ABSTRACT
The early negative put upon the Inquiry into the Public Expenditure in the House of Lords; and the refusal of any account of Places and Pensions held by Members of that House. On March 8th, 1780, the House of Commons witnessed the first real trial of strength, on the “Public Oeconomy” issue, between Administration and an Opposition, strengthened by the yet uncertain number of “independent” members affected by the Yorkshire and other Petitions. The final majority for rejecting Burke’s clause was only a very narrow one in a very full House, 208 against Opposition’s 201. Things were taking a different turn once the troops were no longer held back by the Lord Mayor’s constitutional scuples in the City and by the non-appearance, elsewhere, of timorous magistrates, fearful of mob-reprisals, if they read the Riot Act and authorised the troops to fire.
