and France afforded no market for English alfogether 10,114,000l. from which there wool; and Russia, Sweden, and Denmark were nearly in the same situation. Our trade with America was owing to the long credit we gave, and would continue as long as that system continued. The woollen manufacturers at one time wished to have put down the calico trade, and, had was a deduction to be made of the proceeds they succeeded, would have lost as many cus-The miscellaneous services, he should as tomers as were connected with that trade. The Honourable Gentleman concluded by moving a resolution "That the exportation of wool from Great Britain and Ireland should be permitted, under such regulations as might protect the home manufacturer," Mr. Brooke commented on some of the statements of the Honourable. Gentleman who moved the resolution. From 1781 to 1785 the price of wool had been 64d. per pound; from 1785 to 1795 it had been lold.; from 1795 to 1805 it had been 154d.; and from 1805 to 1815 it had been fsd. There never was a time in which the growers of wool came forward with less pretensions than at the present period. Lord Milton thought that it would be wise to adopt the principle of the resolution, subject to the modifications proposed. : Lord Castlereagh thought the House some at 2,500,00ol. In providing for the was not in a condition to go to a final de-culation, for the present year, was the sum cision on the subject; he therefore sub mitted to the Honourable Gentleman the propriety of postponing the consideration of it till next Session, and should move that it be postponed. The question was at length put on the original motion, and negatived without a division. Monday, May 27. Committee of Ways and Means, The Chaneeilor of the Exchequer, after stating the new arrangements which had been made with the Bank, proceeded to the more general statements of the supplies granted for the present year, and of those which would be still required. The first head was that of the army: 9,665,000l. was the amount for military service already sancfioned by the votes of Parliament, from which was to be deducted 1,234,000l, for the troops in France, leaving 8,431,000l, including the expence for Ireland The accounts of extraordinary grants, to about 1,500,000l. would be speedily prepared. The estimates of the commissariat, &c. were about 480,000l. from which 150,000l. for the army in France, were to be deducted. Taking the charges of the barracks, storekeeper, &c. at the sum of 2,138,000l. the total expence of the military service was 10,564,000l. For the navy there was voted of 500,000l. It would, however, be some 1 charge on account of the interest of the national debt was 39,172,000l. and the whole amount of new debt would fall short of three millions. When bestated the probable produce of the excise duties at three millions and a half, he was aware that some uncertainty necessarily belonged to this was a sum of two millions and a half, and this he proposed to raise by Exchequer Bills. This, however, would form no increase of the unfunded debt, but would operate only to replace a similar amount of Exchequer Bills granted on a former occasion, and wonld make up an entire estimate in consequence of the allowances | sum of 12,000,000l. The following would to be made on the cessation of the present malt duty: but the arrears due from the maltsters would, he apprehended, be sufficient to make good this deficiency. The amount of these duties for the last year was 3,688,000l. The item on the ways and means to which he had next to direct the attention of the House was, the advance from the Bank of 6,000,00ol. made before Easter. To this was to be added the lot then be the full statement of the ways and means for the services of the year : WAYS AND MEANS.-1816. Land and Malt.......................£3,000,000 Surplus Consolidated Fund....... 3,000,000 Excise Duties continued for five years 3,500,000 Bank Advance on Bills..... 6,000,000 Lottery 200,000 tery, estimated as usual at 200,000t. The Surplus Grants, 1815........ 5,663,755 these next item was one of a peculiarly satisfactory nature, inasmuch as it consisted of the surplus remaining upon the grants of the year 1815. The Committee would be aware, that he had early in the Session estimated this excess upon the expenditure of last year at about 8,000,000l.; but it was gratifying to find, that it amounted to no less a sum than 5,663,755). According to an account recently made out of the outstanding claims of the military, barrack, and commissariat departments, these arrears constituted a debt of 4,602,000l., although against this there were to be set the balances in the military chests abroad, amounting in December last to 1,865,000l, and leaving a'net sum of 2,737,000l. To these arrears ought to be added 1,720,000l. due on account of subsidies. There was likewise an excess on the navy debt of about a million. The entire amount of all separate charges was 5,284,7651. The item which next followed in the ways, and meath's was the new advance of three millions from the Bank. He proposed also to apply a portion of the unclaimed dividends to the service of the public, to the extent of 301,0ool. He should deem it his duty to recommend, that the Bank should, retain a fixed sum, above which every excess should be available to the country, provided that ten years had elapsed with ont any call for them, and that they should: still remain subject to the claims of their rightful owners. It was his intention to propose, that after the expiration of the limited period he had mentioned, all stock of this description should be assigned to the custody of the Commissioners for the reduction of the national debt. The next item was a sum of 4:40,oool. being a bafame of unapphed money remaining in the Exchequer. The residue of the supply which would then remain to be provideri Bank Advance on account of chequer 3,000,000 301,316 140,000 Exchequer Bills............. 2,500,000 £27,305,071 The deficit in the revenue of eight millions and a half, occasioned by the cessation of the malt-duty and the property-tax, was supplied by the excess in the grants of last year, which had so greatly exceeded his expectations, and by the advance of 3,000,000/. from the Bank. He was desirous of intimating the strong hopes which he entertained of a speedy improvement in the circulating medium of the country. The only new pressure upon the money market would be the issue of 2,500,000/. in exchequer bills; and this, as he had previously observed, would not be so much new stock, but an exchange merely of similar securities. With regard to Ireland, he would so far anticipate his Right Hon. Friend, as to observe, that it was proposed to raise 1,700,000l. on treasury bills in this country, and to add to the Irish debt a sum of 1,200,000l. By a comparison of the increased produce of the sinking fund, with the charge of new debts thus contracted, there would appear, upon the joint account of the two countries, a reduction of debt to the amount of nearly three millions, a circumstance which he believed to be without example in the first year after the conclusion of a war. The interest of the new deht would amount to 420,000l.; and this charge he estimated would be defrayed by the produce of the soap-tax, which the took at 200.000l.; the duties on butter and cheese, which might fluctuate between 50,000/. and 100,000/.; and by the advantages derivable from the new management with regard to the drawbacks on sugar. Reserving himself at present to afford what further explanation might be deemed necessary, he begged to submit to the committee a resolution "That the proposal of the Bank for au ad Mr. W. Pole, having moved the second reading of the Silver Coinage Bill, Mr. P. Lewes regretted that a gold coinage of 20s, pieces was not a so to take place. He saw no inconvenience or confusion in the co-existence even of the old pieces of 21s. and the new of 20s. by which every objection would be removed. vance of three millions be approved." Mr. V. FITZGERALD observed, that the quota of contribution estimated to be due from freland for the service of the present year, was 3,407,7941. Irish currency, or 8,145,656/. British. The charge of interest and sinking fund on the present debt was 6,820,730/. forming a total supply of 10,284,524. The amount of the consolidated fund, with the remains of the English loan, was 4,289,2807, subject to a deduction of various arrears, which left a net surplus of 991,5701. : SUPPLY. Estimated quota of contribution, 1816, 3,145,656/. Brit. Interest and sinking fund on present debt........ £3,407,794 6,826,730 Total supply.........£10,234,524 STATE OF CONSOLIDATED FUND. Balance on 5th of January, 1816 £1,448,086 lish loan....... 2,622,6411. Brit.2,841,194 £4,289,280 3,297,710 Surplus of consolidated fund £991,570 was WAYS AND MEANS. Surplus of consolidated fund£991,570 Seamen's Wages........................ Ditto ditto in Ireland... ....... 6,000,000 100,000 Mr. W. Pole said, our gold coin was, at present, the most accurate in the world, and the Committee had probably been apprehensive, that any alteration might affect the state of the exchange; they had, therefore, been desirous to make no alteration, except what was absolutely necessary, taking into the account also the additional expense. The late Lord Liverpool, in 1805, had calculated the number of guiness in England at thirty millions, and to recoin such a number would necessarily be attended with a heavy expeuse. But, he believed, the number was not nigh so considerable. The suggestion of a coinage of twenty-shilling gold pieces, he should feel it his duty to recommend to the Committee with a view to the former resolutions being reconsidered- (Hear, hear.) The coiuage of twenty-shilling pieces would be a means of assimilating the currency of Great Britain and Ireland, an object undoubtedly of much importance; and, in such a proposition, he trusted, the Committee would concur. Ia 1695, there had been two legal standards, which had been productive of much inconvenience. Guineas had then sold for thirty shillings from the deterioration of the silver currency. But all the evils would be dope away, by the two metals going on simultaneously, as silver was only a legal tender to the amount of two guineas. Mr. Croker was in favour of a coinage of twenty-shilling gold pieces, and thought the present the most favourable time for making a convenient division of the coin. The current coin of the country was most irregular, there being one measure for gold, another for silver, and another for copper; and these were not referable to each other without fractious. Should twenty-shilling gold pieces be coined, all the coin of the realm would be altered; but he did not ou 111,960 that account dissapprove of such a coinage. He thought the French plan should be imit1,841,666 ated, and that the decimal arrangements 1,६००,००० would be attended with much advantage, if applied to the current coin of this country. If the ounce of gold were divided into five parts, each of these parts would be worth twenty shillings, and each shilling would be worth ten of our present pence; but the ounce of gold was at present equal to ninety-nine shillings Total Ways and Means... £10,245.196 -He concluded by proposing a resolution for raising the sum of 1,200,000l. by Treasury Bills. After some discussion, the respective resolutions were agreed to. : F and four-pence half-penny, and there could be no difficulty in dividing it into one hundred shillings. The pound of silver might be divided into eighty shillings, and then we should have a shilling of the value often grains, and a guinea of the value of twenty shillings. The Bill was read a second time. Elgin Marbles. Mr. Bankes, after some panegyrical remarks on these unparalleled relics of ancient art, moved "That a sum of £35,000, be granted to his Majesty for the purpose of purchasing the Elgin Marbles, and that the same be paid for them, without fee or deduction." Mr. Curwen agreed in all that had been said of the excellence of these marbles as works of art; but he thought that the House should shew a disposition to relinquish its own feelings in forbearing to make this purchase, to shew the people, that an attention to the public distresses, and an anxiety to relieve them, was the object nearest to their hearts. Mr. Hammersley said, the point on which he felt most strongly, was the dishonesty of the acquisition. The Hou. Member then moved an amendment, in substance, " That the Committee having taken into its consideration the means which had been employed to collect and obtain possession of the Elgin Marbles, were of opinion that his Lordship had not borne in mind that the character of an English Ambassador, which he sustained, might be sunk in its dignity by the mode in which these marbles were obtained, and that it be recommended to offer 25,000l. for them to his Lordship, in order that they may be kept on behalf of the public, till they might be reclaimed by the government to which they formerly belonged, then to be given up without any remuneration whatever, and that in the mean time they be kept in the British Museum." Hear! hear! and a laugh.) Mr. Croker, Mr. W. Wynne, Mr. C. Long, and Mr. J. P. Grant, supported the motion; which was opposed by Mr. Serjeant Best, Sir J. Newport, Lord Milton, Mr. P. Moore, and Mr. Brougham; after which it was carried 82 against 30. The following sums were then voted:For defraying the expenses of the Mint..£13,630 o o For defraying the expense of the Office of Storekeeper General 44,800 o o For the Commissary in POLITICAL PERISCOPE. Panorama Office, December 28, 1816. If the writer of a PERISCOPE were to commit himself to the intelligence be receives from one party, only, whether at home or abroad, he would run the utmost risque of being misled and misleading his readers. Take home, for an instance, "Sir, we are ruined, irretrievably ruined! Never were equal desolations!" But, a long life of observation, including fifty years' acquaintance, more or less, with public men and measures, has deprived this exclamation of its sting. Three or four times at least, has Britain, with its connexions, been IRRETRIEVABLY ruined, in our memory. It will follow, that, three or four times, at least, has Britain risen superior to her then supposed fatal misfortunes. All the world thought Britain ruined when France had given independence to the American Colonies. What did the fact prove to be?-that France herself was ruined-irretrievably ruined, by the efforts she had made to destroy her rival. Louis XVI. foresaw this; and when his triumph seemed most complete, his eyes dropped many a tear, at the costly consequences of momentary exultation. Britain recovered; and having seen her recover from that apparently desolate state, we know not how to despair of a repetition of the same miracle. Now, this fairly acknowledges a state of distress and calamity; we do not, we cannot, honestly say, unexampled, unprecedented,-bad enough, certainly, but not so bad as to justify despair. We even conjecture, that at the time we are writing, the Staple Articles of our Country, are considerably improved in demand, and in the price they bear at market, from what they were six or eight months ago: That is to say, they have begun to find the proper channels for their peace deliv delivery, and these operate, though but slowly, and slightly, as yet. There is also, a kind of sentiment or presentiment, among the best informed, that things are either mending, or on the point of mend Chier's Office 405,240 9 lo Barrack Department ....... 178,626 o oling, and this is alone suficient to cause For Law Expenses.......... 10,000 o of them to mend. When this effectually i prevails among the public, the point will be almost obtained; Hope will put the great wheel of the machine in motion; and the lesser will follow to the very smallest. Another word on the subject of Commerce, since it has glided in, as part of this PERISCOPE. The materials of manufacture are either native or foreign: if native the Country that produces them has the unquestionable right to make the most, and the best of them she can. But, if fo reign, then the article is a compound of foreign material and native ingenuity in preparing for use. We therefore, read the declamations in the Continental papers, the complaints, of being undersold, the resolutions for excluding British commodities-say cotton goods, for instance. with great calmness, if not with a sort of apathy. It is granted that you purchase the raw material-it being foreign-as cheap, or cheaper, than Britain; but, did yon invent the MACHINERY by which it is wrought? Is that your's, or is it British? If it be British, and you stole it from Bri tain, blame yourself, if you cannot compete with the original inventor, and perfector, of the article. What right have you to expect that you, who must be some years behind your rival in the business, should be able to meet her, in the long run, on equal, or superior terms? You cannot deny that whatever parts of the whole are her's, because they originated with her, are at least equal to your own: if then, by the habit of longer practice her management be better than your's, where is your right to complain of her injustice? her over overbearing? her all grasping spirit? &c. &c. Acknowledge your own error; confess you have been misled, and blame the party who misted you: it was your grasping spirit which then induced you to take his advice: cease complaining of Britain; and censure only where censure is due. This maxim " censure only where cen sure is due," should be held sacred in politics; but, it often happens, that much blame is thrown where noue ought to at tach. The most masterly strokes of polities are often misunderstood, those who conducted them are blamed beyond mea sore, when they ought to be honourably .applanded. It would, formerly have been thought an impossible transition from the LegisJative Body of Britain to the Legislative Body of France: but time has brought it about, impossible as it might seem. Legislative Body of France is newly élect. ed:-at present it is quiet. ness. The To speak our real sentiments, we have not the greatest confidence in this quietWe should be but little surprised to see it change, suddenly. The French Public Stocks are unaccountably low; unless the price may be taken as indication of an opinion among the money holders, not very favourable to the flouri bing state of the finances of their country. France is a fine country, but it is not inexhaustible; and Buonaparte had drawn it down so nearly to exhaustion, that the utmost skill can, as yet, have afforded it little relief. BELGIUM is profiting by the misfortunes the great joy of the farmer, and the still Government proceed on the maxim Fes tina lente: the end will be obtained more effectually; perhaps more speedily. From the north we hear but little. DENMARK and SWEDEN and RUSSIA, we hope are all well; bat we do not know it from recent intelligence. GERMANY is quiet; except a few feverish symptoms, of no great moment; and possibly little understood. ITALY is safe under Apostolie protection: bat the thought of representative government in the Pope's dominions is almost convulsive. As to Naples and Sicily, with the African Powers on the shores of the Mediterranean, somebody has bid taem be quiet, and quiet they are. SPAIN is quiet, too, but we hardly know on what principles. The Sovereign is μα hali-decided character: he is either uncommonly wise; or Since our last the metropolis has been the scene of public disturbance and bloodshed, We should be glad to think this were the close of such doings. If similar fiots, by the same means, take place in the country, will it be possible for the Go- 1 them at the expence of the public peace, Thus have we gone over Europe; in which is much grumbling: but we hope no spirit of revolt; many wishes to be better, but, we trust, no attempts to realize |