the council, and to bestow your ap- 
probation on the mere representation 
of the necessity of the measure, but 
to have before you all the facts and 
arguments connected with the trans- 
action, and to draw your conclusion 
from the vesult of a full and impar- 
tial investigation. Without these it 
is impossible that you can fairly ab- 
solve him from the imputation of 
the most gross misconduct. And, 
under the present» circumstances, I 
- feelit to be my duty to consider the 
chancellor of the exchequer as hav- 
ing violated the law of the land, 
and given a dangerous blow to the 
national credit. The necessity of 
the case must, indeed,. be well ascer= 
tained before his conduct can be 
justified. It must be proved how far 
he had the means of knowing the 
danger that threatened the public 
service, and how far his information 
was of that serious and alarming 
- nature to demand so extraordinary 
precaution. Icome now to ane- 
ser point, The directors of the 
bank often told the minister what the 
effect would be of his sending such 
"vast sums of money abroad. ‘They 
remonstrated against such conduct. 
L will not enter upon the detail of 
the advice that was,given to him at 
these times; but we all know, and 
now feel the effect of his conduct; for 
- hesent money.abroad,notonlyagainst 
the opinion, and in defiance of the 
_ femonstrances of the bank, but 
against the known spirit, and palpa- 
bly against the yery letter of the 
constitution. Such has heen the 
conduct of the chancellor of the ex- 
_ebequer ; and 1 do say, we are now 
called upon, by the duty, which we 
_ owe to the pubiic, to give no farther 
_ eredit to that minister for his state- 
- ments ia any public affair of finance, 
and more especially upoa the sub- 
Mel SiO !RZY “OR E.DIR'O'P £. 
[isg 
ject which'is now before us. ‘We 
have for along time had a eonfiding 
house of commons; I want now an 
inquiring. house. of commons. I[ 
say, that with a diligent, inquiring 
house of commons, even although it 
should be an indifferent one, with 
regard to talents, and with a miuis- 
ter of very ordinary capacity, we 
shall be able to do more tor the ser- 
vice of the people of this country , 
than a house of commons composed 
of the best talents that ever adorned 
any senate, and a minister of the 
first abilities would be able to, if 
that house should implicitly confide 
in that minister. It, therefore, I 
have, in an uniform tone, called for 
inquiry, and the house has been as 
persevering, as certainly it hitherto 
has, in coniiding, it is not wonderfuk 
that we are in our present condition. 
I say, that without inquiry into the 
cause of our calamities, the public 
neither will, nor ought to be satis- 
fied. I say, farther, that the house 
ought, for the sake of its credit 
with the public, to enter into a full 
inquiry upon this matter, for the 
authority of an inquiring is much 
greater than that of a confiding house 
of commons. It wasour duty to re- 
trieve our affairs, but, if the house 
persisted in confiding in  ministers,. 
our ruin was inevitable. : 
Mr. Hobhouse was afraid that 
bank paper would fall into as low a 
condition as assignats or mandats. 
He was of opinion that nothing 
less than a fuil and complete in- 
quiry would answer any good pur- 
pose. 
Sir John Sinclair referred to the 
journals in the year 1796; from: 
which ii appeared that there had 
been an inquiry into the affairs of 
the bank, but that not a partial one. 
En consequence of the good effects of 
this 
