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LON 
fible to prove, by folid reafons and from weighty exam¬ 
ple, that in certain cafes aflaflination was justifiable. 
When a man had been guilty of the moll atrocious acts 
both of individual and national injullice—when he had, 
in faCl, declared himfelf bound by no law, and utterly be¬ 
yond its reach—and fuch was the iltuation of Bonaparte—• 
before what tribunal could he be brought, and how was 
vengeance to be indiCled upon him ?” The paper then 
went on, faid the noble lord, to enumerate various aCls of 
atrocity afcribed to the ruler of France, fuch as the mur¬ 
der of the duke d’Enghien, of Pichegru, of captain 
Wright, Palm, and others; treating the lubjeCl in fuch a 
way, that no one could underftand it but as a direct in¬ 
citement to alfanination. In this view he was molt 
anxious that their lord'(hips and his majefty’s government 
ihould folemnly and publicly enter their proteft againft 
any fuel) doctrines, that it might go abroad to the world, 
and counteract any falfe impreffions that fuch do&rines 
might produce. 
Marquis Wellefley obferved, that he could truly fay, in 
point of fafil, that the paper in queftion was never feen by 
him till it was communicated to him by the noble lord 
oppofite. He fully coincided with that noble lord in 
thinking that fuch dcClrines could not be too ftrongly re¬ 
probated, and that the atrocity of the fentiments could 
only be equalled by their abfurdity. A doClrine more 
horrid in all refpeCls he could not conceive ; and he dis¬ 
avowed. it, not only as a minifter of the crown, but as a 
man of common fenfe. This writer had faid, that the 
juler of France had placed himfelf above all law ; but he 
(lord Wellefley) trufted that there Hill remained a tri¬ 
bunal before which he might he compelled to anfwer even 
in this world. The nations of Europe might Hill call 
him to account, not by the poniard or the Ifilletto, but 
(here the marquis feemed to fpeak prophetically) by call¬ 
ing forth all their energies , and pun filing him in the field for 
all thofie alls of perfidious aggrejjion by which his name would 
ever be rendered odious. It was lamentable that fuch a pro- 
duClion (hould have iffued from a Britifh prefs; and he 
was forry it had efcaped his attention, though for only a 
few days. He would only add, that there was no way in 
which government could take an opportunity of repro¬ 
bating fuch doClrine that they would not adopt, and if 
poflible bring the author of it to condign punilhment. 
The duke of Norfolk fuggetled the propriety of laying 
'the paper on the table; and thought it ought to be burnt by 
the common hangman. Lord Wellefley objected, that thefe 
rneafures would be giving it greater confequence and cir¬ 
culation ; repeated his general agreement with the opi¬ 
nions of the noble earl; and thus the converfation termi¬ 
nated. 
The fame fubjeft was taken up on the ift of July, in 
the houfe of commons, by Mr. Whitbread, who dwelt at 
large on the horrid nature and effects of the doClrine of 
afTaflination, and the danger of difleminating fuch doc¬ 
trines, which might be direfted againft any potentates 
whole meafures were obnoxious to another country ; and 
he invited the minifters in that houfe to a difavowal of 
them. 
The Chancellor of the Exchequer declared, that, if fuch 
a difavowal was thought neceffary, he (hould moft readily 
make it, though it did not ftrike him that it was requifite 
to imprefs upon the houfe the conviClion that under no 
poflible circumltances could fuch doctrines be juftified. 
He concluded with declaring the moft decided and unqua¬ 
lified difavowal of the horrible doClrines alluded to. 
Speculations of individuals, and the publication of their 
fentiments in newfpapers, were they generally brought up 
to the minifter in order to avow or difavow them, would 
certainly give a great deal of ufelefs trouble to the houfes 
of parliament. However, it was perhaps proper in this 
.cafe that the Englilh charaCler (hould be fhown in its real 
worth, in order that private infinuations might not (lain, 
avith their noxious breath, the true fenfe of a whole nation. 
The decifioa of the Berkeley-peerage caufe took place 
D o n; 
in the houfe of lords, in & committee of privileges, on the 
28th of June. On that day, the lord-chancellor entered 
at conflderable length into the evidence adduced refpeCl- 
ing the claims, and concluded by moving a refolution 
dating, “ That the claimant, William Fitzharding Berke¬ 
ley, had not made good his claims to the titles, honours, 
and dignities, of Earl of Berkeley, Vifcount Dudley, &c.” 
This refolution was agreed to nem. dijf. —By‘the decifion 
of the committee, the four eldeft fons of the late Earl and 
prefent Countefs of Berkeley'are declared illegitimate; 
and the title devolves upon the fifth fon, who is the firft 
born in wedlock, viz. Thomas Morton Fitzharding, now 
Earl of Berkeley, born Ott. 19, 1796. 
Notwithftanding the confident afiertions of minifters 
and their friends, that no depreciation had taken place in 
bank-notes, the taCl of a diminution of their relative value 
to bullion became at length fo glaring that it could no 
longer be denied, and its effects excited a general alarm. 
The trade of purchaling guineas for notes at a rate greatly 
beyond the nominal value of the former was openly carried 
on, to an extent which threatened the abftraflion of all 
the gold coin in the kingdom ; and the difference of a 
money and a paper price was beginning to take place in 
commodities. In fome parts of Ireland gold had been 
demanded by landlords from their tenants, inftead of bank¬ 
notes ; and the fact of a fimilar demand made by a noble¬ 
man in England, (lord King,) became a matter of gene¬ 
ral converfation. The evils which in fo many countries 
had arifen from a depreciated paper-currency feemed to 
be impending over the Britifh empire, and no remedy was 
as yet fuggelted by perfons in power. In this emergency, 
earl Stanhope, a perfon who, perhaps more than any other 
individual of his rank, has habitually aCled according to 
his own ideas, and has formed plans for the public, inde¬ 
pendent of party-confiderations, took up the fubjeft, and 
on June 27th prefented to the houfe of lords a bill of 
which he had given previous notice. After fome intro¬ 
ductory obfervations, relative to the importance and the 
urgency of the matter, he faid, that what he meant to 
propofe was to make it illegal for any body to give more 
money for guineas, half-guineas, &c. than the value they 
lawfully bear; and to make it alfo illegal to take bank of 
England notes at a value lefs than they purported to be 
equal to. He difavowed all private or perfonal views in 
the plan he had formed ; and concluded with moving the 
firft reading of his bill. 
The earl of Liverpool, whilft he did juflice to the in¬ 
tentions of the noble mover, was not willing to admit the 
necefiity of his bill, as he thought that the example of the 
nobleman alluded to, as demanding gold from his tenants, 
was not likely to be imitated. Although, therefore, he 
would not oppofe the bill in its prefent ftage, he (hould 
move for its poftpor.ement at the fecond reading. 
On the 2d of July, the order of the day (landing for 
the fecond reading of the bill, lord Stanhope rofe, and ex- 
preffed his fatisfaClion at feeing feveral lords who were 
not prefent at the former debate. He then obferved, that 
it had been (aid that his bill was not neceflary, becaufs 
nobody would follow the example of his noble friend 
(lord King) in requiring gold from his tenants ; but he 
rather choie to give people the protection of the law than 
leave them to the underltandiog or caprice of other men. 
He then read extracts from feveral letters he had received; 
whence it appeared, that the difference between notes and 
fpecie was beginning to be aCled upon in various parts; 
and he inferred that the necefiity might very fpeedily 
arife, and that too when parliament would not be fitting. 
He gave a caution to the (ecretary of ((ate not to be too 
late with the remedy ; and concluded with moving the fe¬ 
cond reading of the bill. 
Lord King rofe to vindicate himfelf with refpeft to th* 
tranfaCtion which had been fo much'alluded to. He had 
thought it a duty he owed to himfelf to make a (land 
now in defence of his property from that conftantly-pro- 
grefiive depreciation of the currency which proceeded 
1 from 
