GENERAL illSTO R Y. 



[S3 



mauds made by England on lior 

 sinking- fund in the last three 

 yearsj and that during that j)e- 

 riod, though in the year 1 S 1 1 

 England had acquiesced in tlie 

 declared inability of Ireland to 

 contribute by fresh taxes to the 

 public exigency, and that eve]-y 

 eflfort has since been made by Ire- 

 land to meet her difficulties, and 

 that she now applies to this re- 

 source only when the resources 

 of taxation are exhausted . I f Eng- 

 land has cancelled '250,000,0001., 

 he would not say that she had not 

 purchased a right to do it by the 

 sacrifices she had continued to 

 make, an<l if he now lecurred to 

 the same means of relief, it wjts 

 known to those with wliom he 

 had acted, and indeed he hoi)ed 

 lliat the financial efforts which 

 had been made would piove that 

 he had not been eager to recur to 

 it. He felt that it was unneces- 

 sary to dwell longer iipon this or 

 any other points, when liC recol- 

 lected the am|)le discvission which 

 most of the topics received on a 

 former night, and which many of 

 them ])robably would still receive 

 while the bills for consolidating 

 the debts and revenues of both 

 countries woie in progress through 

 jiarliament. 



After various observations from 

 different members, in which the 



statements of the Chancellor of 

 the Exchequer were represented 

 as Hatteringand fallacious, the re- 

 solutions were put and agreed to. 

 The unexampled financial diflS- 

 culties under which the nation 

 laboured in the present year, ne- 

 cessai'ily rendeied the plan for 

 raising the supplies rather a pro- 

 vision against urgent and imme- 

 diate events, than a satisfactory 

 licjuidution of the demands upon 

 the public revenue ; and the 

 Chancellor of the Exchc(iuei' liini- 

 sclf admitted that the expenditure 

 of the year would nuich exceed 

 the income. Tliis gloomy situa- 

 tion of affairs was placed in its 

 strongest light by Mr. J. P. Grant, 

 who, on the 31st, rose to address 

 the House on the subject. After 

 a variety of observations on the 

 expenditure, as stated in the reso- 

 lutions offered by the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer, the lion, gen- 

 tleman moved a number of reso- 

 lutions of his own, concluding 

 with one, which stated the 

 deficiency of the )Me?ent year 

 at 17,877,0651. As we do not 

 mean to isrotract this cha})ter by 

 matter of debate whick produced 

 no result, it is enough to men- 

 tion that the previous (piestion 

 being i)ut and carried upon each 

 of these resolutions, they wei or- 

 dered to be printct'. 



tG2] 



CHAPTER 



