The Speech of the Right Honourable John Aislabie, Esq; upon his defence made in the House of Lords, against the Bill for raising money upon the estates of the South-Sea Directors, on Wednesday the 19th of July 1721. Mr. Aislabie’s Second Speech On his Defence in the House of Lords, On Thursday, July 20, 1721. Printed for J. Roberts, in Warwick Lane, 1721. Price Six Pence. Paper pamphlets with stitched binding; each 22pp. In very good condition with light browning and wear to edges.
In 1719, the South Sea Company proposed a deal whereby it would take over the national debt in exchange for government bonds. Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was a very strong supporter of the scheme; he negotiated the contract and piloted the Bill through the House of Commons. The South Sea Company had been built on high expectations which it could never fulfill, and it collapsed in August 1720. An investigation by Parliament found that Aislabie had been given £20,000 of company stock in exchange for his promotion of the scheme. He resigned the Exchequer in January 1721, and in March was found guilty by the Commons of the “most notorious, dangerous and infamous corruption”. He was expelled from the House, removed from the Privy Council, and imprisoned in the Tower of London although he was released nearly five months later.
