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poſal was made to defer the conſideration of His Majeſty's meſſage till an enquiry ſhould take place reſpecting the cauſe of the debt; which was negatived without a diviſion, as highly unreaſonable. A motion recommending retrenchments met with the ſame fate; another then was humbly ſubmitted, merely for an account of the penſions and increaſed ſalaries from the commencement of the preſent reign; which was thought ſo perfectly reaſonable, that a diviſion was hazarded upon it; but it failed alſo, Mr. Fox, one of the Tellers for the majority [1] .: ſo little diſpoſition was there at that lime to gratify ſuch curioſity.
The inſtance alluded to of confuſion in accounts is ſo late as in 1782. The Committee of the Houſe of Commons, then appointed to examine the accounts of the revenue and expenditure during the American war, dated, that they thought it right to call for
- ↑ Commons Journals, vol. xxxii. p. 265. 465. 856. S66. Colonel Barre, in one of theſe debates, ſaid, "When I was Vice-Treaſurer of Ireland with Lord Clare, we always paid the money firſt, and then examined if we owed it." Debates 1769. p. 126,
