190] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1797. 
this precedent, he could. not help 
agreeing with Mr. Fox, that it 
would be proper to pursue:the steps 
of the committee of 1796, by in- 
quiring not only into the amount of 
the out-standing engagements of the 
bank, but into that of the property 
also. Sir John had learnt, from the 
chancellor of the exchequer; that it 
was the intention of government 
that the notes of the bank of Eng- 
land should be received from indi- 
viduals by the public: from which 
circumstance, if the notes should 
fall in credit, the revenue must be 
diminished. The next point to be 
considered was, whether bank notes 
were to be considered as a legal 
tender from the public to the indi- 
vidual? Unless this were enacted in- 
to a law, it would be impossible to 
carry on public affairs, for there was 
not specie enough in this country to 
pay all ‘the public creditors, The 
next point to be settled was, whe- 
ther bank-notes should be considered 
as a legal tender from one individual 
to another. Unless they were so, he 
was persuaded that one half of the 
public might be sent to jail for debt, 
and that the other half would after- 
wards become bankrupts. But, the 
most mmportant light in, which these 
things should be considered in the 
aggregate, was the effect which the 
whole would have on foreigners. It 
vould alter the price of every article 
purchased from foreigners abroad : 
it would affect ‘the value of every 
article exported to foreigners from 
home. It would shake the credit of’ 
Great Britain in the farthest parts: 
of Russia, and be felt in the re- 
motest corners of the earth: He ia- 
mented that earlier measures had not 
been taken to” prevent what had - 
happened, especially as the danger 
had been long foreseen, He held 
in his hand a copy of a letter whicl’ 
he had written’ to the directors of. 
the bank, so long ago as the 15thof 
September, 1795, wherein such mea~ 
sures were proposed as probably 
would have prevented the sad ne- 
cessity to which they were now re- 
duced. This letter suggested the 
propriety of issuing bank-notes of 
91. and 3/. value, as well as notes of 
larger sums, that should not be im~ 
mediately converted into ‘specie. 
Since, however, the directors had- 
not chosen to adopt any preventive 
measures of that kind, he trusted 
that if a committee should be ap-. 
pointed, it would consist of able- 
and independent men, and not of 
persons, who, from their’ preju- 
dices, habits, or connections, would 
wish either to support or oppose the 
present administration. x4 
Mr, W. Smith could not conceive: 
the justice of government in first’ 
making the bank a corporation of 
bankers, and afterwards exonerating 
them from paying the money de- 
posited in their hands. ‘The part- 
nership between the government’ 
and the bank was compulsive and 
unjust, as being ‘a partnership of 
an insolvent government, which re= 
quired a solvent company to bolster 
up its ruined finances.”? With regard 
‘to the utility of a secret committee, 
he would much rather take the word 
of thé directors of the bank, as to 
the solidity and responsibility of 
their funds, than the report of the 
secret committee, who had only the 
power of making a-partialinquiry. 
Lord Wycombe said, that if the 
suspension of payment, required by 
the privy.council, was intended to 
remove a public pressure at home, 
he should have no objection to ac- 
cede toit. But as he thought all 
this was intended merely to cover a- 
