ah ted 
HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
of May, Mr. Grey, who had been 
a member of the committee ap- 
pointed by the house.of commons, 
to examine into the necessity and 
the causes of the order of council, 
of February 26; and who dissented, 
on certain points, from the  senti- 
ments of the majority of that! com- 
mittee, felt himself called upon to 
explain the grounds on which that 
difference of opiniou was founded. 
He felt it to be a task, which his 
public duty likewise imposed, to 
‘submit to the house, resolutions of 
a criminatory nature against the 
chancellor of the exchequer, found- 
éd on the proofs collected by the 
committee, and contained in their 
report, and which amouuted to a 
' charge of misconduct and guilt, 
which the house could not suffer 
to pass with impunity. Before he 
proceeded to open the nature of 
his propositions, he stated the dif- 
ference of opinion between him, 
and, he believed, the whole of the 
committee, The object of its inves- 
tigation comprehended two points : 
first, the necessity of the order of 
council ; and, secondly, the causes 
by which it had been produced. 
It was upon the: first point that the 
difference alluded. to existed. He 
had thought that .the order of the 
‘council was not proper, and was 
not necessary. This opinion was 
founded on the closest observation 
of the state of the bank, and a 
thorough conviction that the in- 
terference of power was not the 
remedy bywhich its embarrassments 
could be obviated.—So much in 
explanation of his differing from 
the rest of the committee. With 
regard to the second point, the 
causes by which it had been pro- 
duced; the committee had stated, 
that, whatever might be the effects 
i 905 
of other causes, whether progres- 
sive, or likely to cease, the dread of 
invasion had occasioned the drain, 
which had reduced the bank to the 
necessity of suspending their morey- 
payments, Whathe, however, im- 
puted, as a serious charge against 
the chancellor of the exchequer, 
was, that prior to this period, the 
affairs of the bank were so reduced, 
that a drain, whieh in other’ cit- 
cumstances would not have ‘pro- 
duced: that effect, had, in this in- 
stance; occasioned the immediate 
necessity of stopping payment. In- 
stead of taking measures to coun- 
teract the danger of this, instead 
of exerting himself to provide a 
remedy for the evil which he had 
rendered probable, the chancellor 
of the exchequer had aggvavated 
and accelerated the causes by which 
the event was ultimately produced, 
To support this heavy charge, he 
called the attention of the house . 
to the evidence on the table, on 
which he proceeded to make vati- 
ous comments.—Mr. Grey, in con- 
clusion of a long speech, observed, 
that we had experienced the bad 
effects’ of pursuing a system con- 
trary to good faith. | Under the 
conduct of ministers it had brought 
us to the brink of ruin. The 
profiigate system of administration 
would be’complete, if it should be 
crowned with the sanction of par- 
liament.. He then moved a series 
of resolutions, the same in substance 
with thosethat had been proposed, 
on the. day before, on the sdme sub- 
ject, in the upper house, by the 
duke of Bedford. 
Mr. Pitt observed, that however 
copiously the causes which had pro- 
duced thescarcity of cash, had been 
stated by Mr. Grey, they might be 
reduced to a few simple and plain 
points. 
