the honour and character of the country as well as of that House, were called upon to prove his guilt and make him an example. Sir Elijah had been sent out by that House to restrain oppression, and he had become an oppressor; he had been sent out to execute an office which depended upon evidence, and he had cut up evidence by the roots; he had been sent out to stem the torrent of corruption, and he had himself become a corrupter; sir Elijah, therefore, in his opinion, deserved exemplary punishment. But when he considered that he had himself been the means of enfeebling his hon. friend's cause, by stripping him of that assistance which he was entitled to expect, and engrossing the abilities of so many gentlemen, by engaging them to take a share in the conduct of the proceedings against Mr. Hastings, he could not but give the hon. baronet that advice in public which he had before given him in private, to postpone the business till the next session, as he really thought there was enough of the same serious sort of proceeding already upon the hands of the House.

Sir Gilbert Elliot answered, that he meant to repeat his notice for Tuesday next, unless he understood it to be the general wish of the House that he should not persist in bringing forward the business this session. If gentlemen declared they were not prepared to discuss it, and therefore desired that it might be deferred, he should think it his duty to comply with their request; but in that case he hoped that, during the summer, they would apply themselves to the subject, so as to be able to come prepared for its agitation early in the next session.

Mr. Pitt said, that considering the state of business in that House, ever since the hon. baronet had first undertaken the prosecution, no man could blame him for having hitherto delayed it, nor should he recommend it to him to think of entering upon it during the present session. Sir Gilbert Elliot, thereupon, withdrew his notice.

Prince of Wales's Debts.] Mr. Pitt said, that perceiving the House so full, he would take that opportunity of alluding to a subject of the highest importance in itself, and of the greatest novelty, which was likely to affect the most essential interests of this country, and which of all others required the greatest delicacy which could possibly be used in its discussion.

An honourable magistrate had given notice that he should, on some day in the course of the ensuing week, make a proposition to the House concerning the establishment of his royal highness the Prince of Wales but he had not thrown out any intimation of the specific object of that proposition. He was sure that it must be obvious to him, that a subject of such high importance, and one which the House would certainly not wish to enter upon at all, except on grounds of actual necessity was not a fit one to be brought forward by surprise, which undoubtedly would, in a great measure, be the case, if they were to remain ignorant of the scope and tendency of the proposed motion, until the very moment in which it was to be moved. If then the honourable magistrate still persevered in his intention of forcing the business forward, he hoped he would do in in a manner suitable to its vast importance.

Alderman Newnham answered, that he did not mean, as the right hon. gentleman had phrased it, to force forward the subject of the Prince of Wales's situation. It in fact forced itself forward; but he should have been extremely well pleased to have had the matter taken out of his hands by his Majesty's ministers. As to the parti cular parliamentary form which it would wear, it really had not been decided upon by himself; but the jet of it he had no objection to state, as it was to rescue his Royal Highness from his present embar rassed situation. He believed it was pretty well known that his Royal Highness was greatly involved in debt, and that he had, with a degree of magnanimity which did him infinite honour, set apart a very considerable portion of his income for the payment of his debts; but though it was extremely noble in his Royal Highness so to act, it was impossible for him to continue unrelieved, without being reduced to the alternative of living in a manner not equal to his birth and distinguished rank, or of running farther in debt.

Mr. Pitt considered it as rather singular that the hon. magistrate should have given notice of a motion before he had determined what that motion was to be; but as he supposed he would make up his mind about it before the intended day, and as he, for his part, could not venture to come to such a discussion, except upon very mature reflection, he should take another opportunity, before that day arrived, of once more requesting a more specific notification of the hon. magistrate's intea

ion; for certainly that which he had been pleased to give, was by no means a sufficient preparation for so very serious and delicate a subject.

Alderman Newnham replied, that the um and substance of his motion would be, o rescue his Royal Highness from his ›resent embarrassed situation, which he conceived that House alone could accomplish.

Mr. Fox said, that he entirely agreed with the right hon. gentleman that it was Indeed a subject of peculiar novelty; but 30 were the circumstances which gave rise to it; and it was also of equal delicacy; out as that delicacy would arise from the necessity of going into an investigation of the causes from which those circumstances had originated, and as that must prove a painful task to the House, and to every gentleman in it; he hoped that the business might be forestalled, and something done in the interim to render it unnecessary for the hon. magistrate to prosecute his intention.

Mr. Pitt admitted, that the principal delicacy of the question would lie in the necessity of inquiring into the causes of the circumstances which were proposed to be brought into discussion, and for that reason he would, from his profound respect for every part of the illustrious family who were concerned in it, wish, if possible, to prevent discussion. If the hon. magistrate should determine to bring t forward, he would, however distressing it might be to him as an individual, discharge his duty to the public, and enter fully into the subject. But he still hoped that the hon. magistrate would, on farther reflection, be inclined to think that there was nothing of that peculiar nature in the business which could render it necessary for him to go so far out of the established course, or to justify that House in adopting any measure which should interfere with a subject which had always been considered as one of the most uncommon delicacy.

Debate on the Repeal of the Shop Tax.] The order of the day being read, Mr. Fox rose, in order to make his motion for the repeal of the shop tax. He began a most ingenious and striking argument against the tax, by stating, that he had never been forward in opposing taxes, because he thought it the duty in general of members of parliament to support Government in the arduous and invidious

measures of finance; but, at the same time that he entertained the opinion, he thought it equally impolitic to adhere to it in the extreme degree, and on no occasion whatever, even though a tax should appear, after experiment and fair trial, partial and oppressive, to consent to its repeal. Under this impression it was, and upon a full conviction that the Shop-tax was a personal tax, unjustly levied from a particular description of men, that he should move for its repeal. The Shop-tax he had ever heard stated by those who defended it, to be a tax not upon the shopkeeper, but the consumer of goods sold by the shopkeeper. That he had ever peremptorily denied, and experience had proved beyond all possibility of doubt, that he was right in the denial.

Mr. Fox proceeded to urge all the arguments which he had formerly brought forward, to prove that the tax was not in fact, what it was called, but an additional tax upon house-keepers whose houses had shops annexed to them. He manifested the particularly unjust way in which the tax pressed upon the metropolis and its environs, by stating that the whole sum assessed for the shop-tax amounted to 59,000l. seventeen of which were assessed for the city of Westminster alone, twelve for the city of London, and twelve more for the villages adjacent; so that the county of Middlesex paid forty-one parts out of the fifty-nine of the produce of the tax. Mr. Fox reasoned upon this statement, and declared that he could scarcely have imagined, considering the superior opulence of the city of London, compared to the city of Westminster, that the latter should have paid seventeen parts of the produce of the tax, while the former only paid twelve parts; nor could he, at first, believe that the villages in Middlesex paid another twelve, till upon inquiry he found, that, under the head of villages were comprehended Mary-le-bone, High Holborn, Wapping, the out-parishes, and those nondescript districts which, though accurately speaking, they were not parts of the three cities, if he might so denominate London, Westminster, and their environs, were generally considered as parts of the metropolis. He compared this with the proportion paid by the rest of the kingdom, and said, that, though he could not be of opinion with those who thought that the representation of London, Westminster, and Middlesex, should be exactly in the proportion of their payment of the taxes,

yet that forty-one parts out of fifty-nine was so monstrous a disproportion, that every man who barely heard it stated, must be startled at it, and must feel conviction that the tax was most partial and unjust in its operation and pressure.

Mr. Fox declared, that upon an examination of the assessment throughout the kingdom it would be discovered, that an hundred pounds was all that was assessed for some whole counties, and not above fifty for others. The partiality of the tax, therefore, was so palpable, that he could not see how the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer could resist the application for its repeal with any colour of reason or of candour. He contended, that the favourite argument of the competition of shop-keepers, which had formerly been resorted to as a proof that they would lay the tax on their customers, was of itself a proof that the consumer did not pay it, and consequently a confirmation of the argument, that it fell totally on the shopkeeper. He instanced, in a variety of ways, the hardship of thus singling out one description of persons to pay a tax that the rest of the subjects were exempted from, and forcibly argued the injustice of that House insisting upon continuing a tax, to which they did not contribute one single shilling. Unless the bankers were selected, members of parliament could not be said to pay any thing towards it; and if bankers were assessed, what became of the argument of the consumers paying the tax? For surely it would not be pretended that bankers could lay any part of the tax on their customers. He showed, that so far from shops being an advantage to the houses to which they belonged, in many instances they produced an opposite effect. He mentioned those houses with shops which on account of their situation were let at high rents, and the shopkeepers of which hoped to assist themselves by letting lodgings. Every gentleman must be aware, that lodgings in houses without shops were deemed preferable to lodgings in houses with shops. In that particular, therefore, and in a variety of others, houses with shops were less proper to be loaded with an additional house tax than other houses.

He contended that it was ridiculous to persist in saying that the consumer paid the tax, when the shop-keepers knew and declared, and were ready to declare on oath, that they paid it themselves. If the shop-keepers came again to the bar, and

said, "We pay the tax, and as it affects us solely, we beg to be relieved from it;" would that House say, "No, you do not pay the tax, we pay it, though you do not know it, and we choose to continue to pay it?" He dwelt on the absurdity of such a mode of reasoning, and said, it would be much better to give up the tax, and adopt some other less objectionable, and less objected against. Speaking of the assessments, he said they were proofs of the strenuous means resorted to, in order to force the tax to become efficient, and were in many instances capricious and extravagant. Mr. Fox instanced Mr. Wells, the ship-builder's yard, and that of a wholesale block-maker for shipping, which were assessed as retail shops, because some of the workmen occasionally sold a few of the chips; and also Greenland dock, because part of the sediment and scum was sometimes disposed of.— After urging a great variety of arguments, Mr. Fox said, that, though he knew the house-tax to be a very bad mode of taxation, yet if it was thought right to lay an additional tax on houses, he would recommend a general additional tax, as a more equitable measure at least than the shoptax. He concluded a very able and ani mated speech, with moving for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the act imposing certain duties on shops.

Mr. Lambton rose with great pleasure to second the motion, yet not without the utmost diffidence; aware how inevitably he exposed himself to the imputation of presumptuousness; how wantonly he transgressed the bounds of prudence, by so early an intrusion on the time and patience of the House; and how improbable it was, that the weight of any of his arguments could tend to the justification of so forward an appeal. He was, however, impelled, by strong reasons, to meet these difficulties, or, at least, induced to throw himself upon the indulgence of the House; an indulgence the more necessary, as he was surrounded by men of such transcen dent abilities, as were not to be equalled in the annals of Parliament. Having re ceived the instructions of his constituents, to support the motion, he could not con tent himself with merely giving a silent vote upon the occasion. Having also the happiness to concur with them in the opi nion of its unjust partiality, he felt that his opposition to it could not be too open. He must confess his inability to resist the alluring opportunity of opening his lips,

generally oppressive, is therefore equally felt by all, than to oppose one like the present, which, being partially oppressive, is therefore unfair and unjust. He concluded with intreating the House to consider fairly and candidly the real situation and hardships of the shopkeepers; with intreating the minister not to remain thus obstinately wedded to his own opinion and measures, refusing to undeceive himself, merely, he believed, from the fear of being obliged to regulate his inclinations by his reason; with intreating him to give this one instance of his condescension; such an act would be only stooping (if it could be called stooping) to rise again higher, assured, that thus, far from forfeiting reputation, he would considerably add to his character and popularity.

Mr. Pitt said, that the subject before the House had already been so frequently discussed that it was impossible for him to meet it with any new matter, and it appeared that the other side of the argument was equally exhausted; for the right hon. mover had not been able to introduce any fresh reasoning absolutely applicable to the question, every thing which bore that appearance being only new colourings to old tenets or topics entirely foreign to the subject. Mr. Pitt said, that the speech with which the House had been last favoured was as remarkable for the elegance of the language as for the liberality of its sentiments. There was one novelty, which he could not but take particular notice of, and that was the novelty of hearing an hon. gentleman, for the first time of speaking in that House, adorn a subject in itself dull and uninteresting (uninteresting as a subject of debate, but not as a public measure) with so much eloquence and ingenuity. The House, who had heard the hon. gentleman, would be convinced that the approbation he bestowed upon him, could not but be sincere; and the hon. gentleman, who certainly had not seemed desirous of bribing his applause, must feel that it was impartial and disinterested; for however he might be pleased to discover talents, he certainly could not experience much satisfaction in finding their whole force levelled against him and the system of his administration. Mr. Pitt now went into the question, contending that the natural competition of trade was sufficient to protect the inferior dealer against the more opulent, even under burthens proportioned to their situations; for if this was not the case, the competition,

without any such burthens at all, or underthe old burthens of taxation in common with all other housekeepers, would have long since operated wholly to demolish the lower orders; whereas the competition under the present tax was rather favourable to those latter mentioned persons, because the tax rose upon the higher classes in more than an adequate proportion. The more opulent trader would not be satisfied with the same general profit as the poorer one, but would expect a greater profit, in proportion to his situation, his rank among other dealers, and his command of capital. This proportional profit was only to be had by vending a greater quantity of commodities. modities. But the vending a greater quantity would not answer the end, if on each article a small price was to be obtained. He never had suggested that a compensation for the tax was to be looked for by the shopkeepers in consequence of any general and uniform increase of their prices; but, each shopkeeper would naturally consider what article of his dealing was the most convenient for him to enhance, so as to bring him in an equivalent; and although the same article might not be chosen by another shopkeeper for the same purpose, yet there was no danger of his losing customers thereby; for, if it were found that on the general average the prices of both were equal, the buyer would, from motives of local convenience, resort to the same shop. And as to the argument, that if any compensation were to be made to the shopkeepers by the advance of their prices, it must be such an advance as would prove more oppressive on the public at large; to this he should answer, that although the competition of trade would not prevent their obtaining a proper compensation, yet it would render it unsafe to attempt at gaining more. The statement, as if it was a question between the shopkeepers and the members of the House, was, as far as the right hon. mover's argument at all applied, between the shopkeepers and the whole body of the people of England, objectionable. As to himself, he did not repose that implicit reliance on the faith of foreign nations which was imputed to him; yet he was too well convinced of the happy effects of peace on this country, not to endeavour to secure its continuance as much as possible; and the best method of doing so was, to make it the interest of our neighbours to cultivate a good understanding with us, and also to preserve our strength and power as much