126 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



offices to be abolished or regu- 

 lated."* — It appeared to Mr. Ba- 

 thurst, that the substitute was 

 likely to become more unpopular 

 tlian the sinecures, because it held 

 out to the public the semblance of 

 a desire to remove a burthen, 

 wiiile it only got rid of a name ; 

 because, in fact, it involved an 

 attempt at delusion. — Mr. Long 

 spoke to the same effect. But 

 lord Milton, Mr, H. Thornton, 

 Mr. Macdonald, Mr. W. Taylor, 

 and Mr. Wilberforce spoke in fa- 

 vour of the amendment. The 

 House divided : for the amend- 

 raent, 105 — against it, 95. The 

 rest of the resolutions were then 

 put and carried. 



Itisin the Chapter on the Public 

 Expenditure and Income that we 

 are to notice the appointment of 

 the Bullion Committee, which 

 arose out of the embarrassments 

 of our commerce, the grand spring 

 of finance. For some time back 

 we had suffei'ed in our exchanges 

 m foreign markets a loss of not 

 less than from 15 to 20 per cent. 

 From our circulating medium 

 ^Iden coins liad almost wlioUy 

 disappeared: the only medium of 

 circulation in commercial transac- 

 tions, and dealings of all kinds, 

 was paper currency. The price of 

 gold had risen from 21. 17 s. per 

 ounce in Bank notes, to 4l. I2s. 

 A prodigious and very distressing 



rise had taken place in the price 

 of all commodities. Tliis rise had 

 proceeded in a much higher and 

 more rapid proportion of increase 

 within these last ten or fifteen 

 years, than within any former pe- 

 riod of equal duration ; and by 

 this rise in prices, or depreciation 

 in the value of our paper curren- 

 cy, the public finances were as 

 much lessened in their value as 

 those of individuals. 



House of Commons, Feb. 1. 

 Mr. Horner,f pursuant to notice, 

 rose to move for a variety of ac- 

 counts and returns respecting the 

 present state of the circulating me- 

 dium and thebullion trade. Heex- 

 pressed a decided opinion, that it 

 wasnecessaryfortheHousetomake 

 inquiry into the causes of the pre- 

 sent high price of bullion, and tlie 

 consequent effect on the value of 

 the paper currency. For the in- 

 vestigation of this highly interest- 

 ing question, it was his intention 

 on an early day to move the ap- 

 pointment of a select committee. 

 But it would be not only inconve- 

 nient, but indispensable, in the 

 first place, to obtain all such in- 

 formation on the whole of that 

 subject as papers might aftbrd ; 

 which information could after- 

 wards be referred to the committee. 

 He did not presume as yet to form 

 a clear or confident conclusion on 

 the subject. It was in order to 



* See Abstractor the Select Committee on Sinecure Places. (State Papers, 

 p. 473.) 



+ Some political good arises out of rotten boroughs. Were there no elections of 

 members of parliament besides those made by popular assemblies, men of genius 

 and abilities, without political influence or the venal means of acquiring it, would 

 never find their wzy into parliament. Mr. Homer was brought in as the represen- 

 tative of one of those boroughs through the influence of a leading member (tfflppo- 

 ■sJtton. Mf. Homer, who is one of the -writers in tire Edmbvrgh Bei»i>?«, liasa<?^«ired 

 'gi«Bt Teputattan hy his critical afaservations on-different works -on poUticaI<GamonTy. 



