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‘HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
The pritice was doubtless entitled 
<0 a proper establishment ; but there 
would be moré dignity in declining 
than in reqairing ‘an €xpensive one. 
In times of public distress, such as. 
the présent, was it prudent to con- 
tinue the’ shameful profusion of less 
unhappy times; and, would the 
legislature countenance that pro- 
digal spirit which had brought the 
country and the constitution into 
such imminent danger, by destroy- 
ing the independence of people of 
fortune, and exposing them to the 
controul of the court, and the con- 
tempt of the people? The revenue 
_ of the king’s father was limited, for, 
years after his marriage, to fifty 
thousand pounds, and he did not 
apply to parliament for the pay- 
ment of his debts, He would not 
_ oppose the granting of an establish- 
"a just sense of his imprudence. 
., 
* 
+ 
ment to the prince, equal to that of 
his ancestors ; but neither would he 
consent to the payment of his debts 
by parliament. Other means ought 
to be resorted to than the liberality 
of the nation, which would be very” 
ill-timed in a season of so much 
difficulty and pressure, and no less 
ill_applied, when the manner of 
contraCting the debts was duly con- 
sidered. A refusal to liberate him 
from his embarrassments would cer- 
tainly prove a mortification; but 
it would, at the same time, awaken 
In 
the mean time, his creditors, when 
no longer presuming on the facility 
of parliament, and deprived of ex- 
pectations from the public purse, 
would readily come to a compo-. 
sition; which would leave the 
a in possession of a sufficiency 
tO support his station becomingly. 
‘He concluded by moving, that in 
lieu of sixty-five thousand pounds, 
Proposed by Mr, Pitt, an addition 
aon 
[219 
of forty thousand should, be. voted 
to the prince’s revenue. © , 
Mr. Grey’s motion was warmly 
seconded. by several members, and. 
opposed in the same, manner by. 
others, Mr. Lambton in particular, 
observed, that to refuse the pay. 
mént of the prince’s dcbts were, to 
compel him to retire to.a privacy of 
life, and cut off his intercourse with 
those various parts of society, with 
which it was indispensable that ‘he 
should preserve the amplest commu. 
nication. When his former debts: 
were paid, it clearly appeared, that, 
it would be difficult for him to limit, 
his expences to less than one hun. 
dred thousand pounds. »Had_his- 
revenue then been carried to that 
extent, the inconveniences to which 
he was now reduced, would possibly, 
have been avoided. 
A minute investigatiomof the cire, 
cumstances attending the establish... 
ments of the prince of Wales, since 
the accession of the Brunswick fa- 
mily, was brought forward, on this 
occasion, by Mr. Fox. He made it 
appear, that they were matters of 
party, and varied according to the 
footing on which they stood with 
ministers. ‘This might. .in some 
measure, be applied to the business 
before the house. He would not 
be directed by personal motives in a 
case of thisnature; but from acon. 
vittion that a liberal support wag 
necessary, would vote for the allow. 
ance moved for by the minister, 
provided that requisite precautions 
were taken to obviate the repeti~ 
tion of a similar application. He 
thought, however, that a contribu. 
tion from the civil list ought to have 
come in aid in such an. occurrence 
as the present. Queen Anne, and 
the two first sovereigns of the house 
of Brunswick, had set a laudaole 
example 
