Her Majesty's Mails

During the month of February, 1838, Mr. Wallace moved for a Select Committee of the Commons to investigate and report upon Mr. Hill's proposals; but the Government resisted the motion.[91] They intimated that the matter was under their consideration, and they intended to deal with it themselves. But the community were dissatisfied. They continued to petition till Ministers were compelled to show a greater interest in the subject, which they did "by proposing little schemes, and alterations, and devices of their own, which only proved that they were courageous in one direction, if not in another."[92] Meanwhile, the "Merchandise Committee"--formed of a number of the most influential and extensive merchants and bankers in London, with Mr. Bates, of the house of Baring & Co. for chairman--was called into existence through the manifested opposition to reasonable reform. Large sums were subscribed by this committee for the purpose of distributing information on the subject by means of pamphlets and papers, and for the general purposes of the agitation. So great and irresistible, in fact, was the pressure applied in this and other ways, that the Government found it impossible any longer to refuse an inquiry. A month or two after Mr. Wallace's motion, Mr.