The National Register. — London, England, 1820-05-14 00:00:00

131 ON THE LATE EXECUTIONS. We cannot avoid reverting with an expression of unmitigated horror to the scene lately exhibited at Newgate, so far as the execution of a part of the sentence of the unhappy men alluded to was concerned. Gracious Heaven ! do we live in a Christian country, and is the vengeance of the law thus, without any one object of utility to mankind, to exceed the limits of death ? Even for actual murder, the hanging in chains and dissection of bodies is surely a law of very doubtful propriety ! It is true, that the bloody stat'ite by which decolla tion is lawful, remains on the statute book, with all its horrible provisions of mutilations, as passed in the time of one of the Edwards, an age of barba rism, and it is this statute which Sir S. Romilly endeavoured to have repealed in a former Parlia ment, and which repeal a Tory, by the name of Charles York, we remember, too successfully opposed. But—ls this the spirit of the white man's heaven or, is it the spirit of the Indian Chief? With what consistency Lord Sidmouth could advise the remise Sion of the other mutilations, and retain thi► mails" that of the law, we cannot imagine. A surgeon with a knife, before an immense body of civilised Englishmen and Christians, to cut off five heads from the bodies of five malefactors just hanged, the blood yet reeking fresh in the veinal Was it meant for effect of terror ? It was not terror—it was horror ! We should have thought that the pangs which must have wrung a father's heart—(let a certain noble man read this, and he wiU understand it I)—would have wrought a milder sentiment than to have any thing to do with the exhibition of blood ! The very seltolution of assassination confessed, removes all ' doubt as to the criminality and justice of the pu nishment of death for the conspirators in question, although an awful and most important part of the history, concerning Edwards, remains yet to be developed. But we protest, as Christians, against all insults and revenge upon the body of a fellow creature whose spirit is departed, and gone before the tribunal of Him who judgeth the hearts!--And while the criminal code is about to undergo a gene- =1 revision, we are surprised that any such a part of it as mutilations should be put into execution. We now return to the chief subject of our late Postscript, and in looking over the debates upon the King's speech, we observed that one Member of the lower House quoted a passage from Mr. Burke, in timating that " while men are allowedito attribute public calamities to the measures of Government, there can be no peace in a nation." Perhaps if we canvass Mr. Wilmot's speech, we may be sent to Newgate for a breach of privilege; but of Mr. Burke we may, and will speak—and first, we beg leave to remark, that nearly up to the time when this said Mr. Burke had his mouth stopped with a pension of 1,5001. per annum, he spent all his days in censuring the meastires of the administration ; and even after he seceded from the Whigs, he con demned the administration for not being more inve terate than they were (which could hardly be), against France. Witness his letters on what he cells a Regicide Peace. And pray, we must ask this conveniently minded man, whose real language is nothing short of what unjust men in authority have done in every age, via. " We will do what we like, and you shall hold your tongues." We would ask—To what are the decline and fall, or the rise and prosperity of nations to be attributed ? To the arbitrary and unconsti tutional decree of Providence ? or, to the agency of Providence operating by causes permitted by Provi dence to be within human controul? If the latter, we go to the very fountain and well-head of civil liberty, implying among other things free discussions of public measures as necessary to operate whole somely upon the agency of those causes affecting nations, the counsels by which they are governed, and the experienced or probable consequence of those counsels; and we see that, humanly speaking, Tilt NATIONAL REM and according to the general law established by divine Providence, there is no way of aiding the progress, or retarding the fall of nations, except by a vigilant attention from all quarters (for men who act and advise with authority are surely not to be judge an jury to decide on their own actions), to the sources of their prosperity, or the causes of their decline. It is to Mr. Burke's doctrine of certain classes of society, constituting society itself, and the barbarous absurdity of that doctrine, that we al luded in the sketch given last week of sentiments which ought to operate in addresses to the throne; and we will fearlessly say, who have read and stu died Burke's writings more than many, that more mad, or inhuman doctrines, more inflammatory non sen►e, more riotous imagination, was never displayed in the works of any man endowed with such talents, and possessed of such acquirements; nor is there any author which men ought so carefully to suspect and guard against, in reading, from being hooked by a bait of showy trash, and gilt gingerbread. He appears to have been a Whig from accident and connection, a writer from spleen, a madman from constitution, a Papist in principle and in secret, a renegade from convenience, and from the passions and slanders which he mixed up with what he calls his defence of social order, to have been the greatest enemy to the peace of society. He was like a man who would run to put out a fire with a lighted torch instead of a pail of water in his hand. It is truly surprising, too, that men in general of that delicate sensibility for religion, truth, and mo ral and social order, who are always quoting Burke and such like authors, should seem to have lost all their sensibility to crimes which affect the people. Where, among all the satellites ofpower, do we hear of one expression of anger at the conduct, for in t stance, of Edwards, a man who, it appears, was the instrument by which the spirit of crime was drawn forth from the lurking places of the late unhappy men's bosoms, and shaped into form, and into sub stance embodied. Such characters as these men who have suffered were certainly a misfortune to society, and their hearts a storehouse of danger but any magistrate might fill all the prisons in England if be were to allow and encourage others to urge on bad men to the commission of offences to which bad men may be prone. Whether Edwards was employed, and by whom, we cannot ray, but a strict and awful inquiry ought to be made into the circumstances respecting him, which have transpired to the public. Either he war of his own bead the prime mover, or he was set on by others for base purposes. These two points ought to be cleared up-1. If Edwards, without being the instrument of others for any pur poses unexplained, planned or urged his devilish project, why should he not be a victim of justice? and, 9dly, Whether Edwards became, as certain allegations intimate, and how he became, out of a previous state of poverty, so rich as to supply others, now executed, with money, or arms ? Every honest man ought to join in insisting upon the elucidation of these points. Rio JANEIRO, MARCH 6.—The news from Bu. enos Ayres direct reaches up to the 2d of February. The Montoneros have at length gained a triumph over the Government of Buenos Ayres. The Di rector, Rondeau, returned to the capital with only 40 men. Pueyrredon saved himself in time, and we have subsequently learnt, that on the 6th Feb. he arrived at Montevideo. Secretary Tagle, Diaz Veles, and others, fled and took refuge in the C,olo nia del Sacramento, in the hands of the Portuguese. In Cie mean time the Alcalde, Don Pedro Aguirre, has been named Director ad interim. For greater security. General Sun Martin withdrew from Men doza to Chili, where something similar, if not worse, may be expected, for the spirit of anarchy is spread ing among them, and Cochrane's defeat will tend to increase it. Melancholy is the aspect of that portion of South America above alluded to, the Go vernments are literally falling to pieces of them. selves. It is thought that La Serna, who has ($OO men round Potosi, will now advance, as the boasted Tucuman army has frittered away since the over. throw of its General. DEITCII AND IMAIDURGH AWLS. t EIS/SAVER, Afa►6 29. A very singular circumstance, which occasioned for a time great alarm in this town, has lately oc. curred. The mineral waters have been long amongst the most celebrated in Germany, and the number of visitors increasing every year, it was resolved to erect a new building, of considerable extent, for their accommodation. Some progress had been made in digging the foundations, when the water in the wells began to sink. The proprietors of these springs were seized with consternation, which soon spread through the whole ►own.— M. Seis, the architect, and director of the work', to whom the blame was attributed, and whe, perhaps, proceeded with too much precipitation and want of precaution, had died of terror and vexation. The baths are not yet restored, but the water, how. ever, begins to flow into them again. The fortifications of Coblents and Ehrenbreilstein are to be carried on with the greatest activity. The Court of A ppeal at Frankfort has rejected Dr. Boern's application for an indemnity for his short arrest without legal grounds. The Doctor has again appealed from this decision. STNEDELBURG, APRIL 24. Professor de Witte (the same who wrote the let ter to the mother of Sandt, which caused him to be dismissed from his Professorship by the King of Prussia), lately came here to visit his friends and family, for his wife is a native of this city, and he was Professor of Divinity here before he was ie vited to Berlin. He had scarcely arrived here when he received orders to quit the city in twelve hours. ST. APRIL 14. Some alterations have been made in the new tariff; they relate to some cotton manufactures and foreign brandies, in favour of our national manu facturers. YRO4II LAST NIGHT'S GAZETTE. C*IL.TOS Howie. Mai 10. Dia Majesty was this day pleased to confer the honour of Knighthood on W. D. Evans. Esq. Recorder of Bombay. _ R. Raker. Eq. Chief Magistrate at the Public Office, Don Street. J. Tobin. 1162. 2 Maya of Liverpool. T. Mantel!, . Mayor of Dover. G. S. Gmith, Bath, M.D. F.R.S. Physician to her late Majesty. BANKRUPTS. B. Coney, Strand, oilman. Solicitor, Mr. Norton, Ncw Union Street. Maorikids. W. Lipscomb., Exeter, grocer. SQL Mr. Brutton, Broad Street. G. Phillips. Manchesta. plumber. Sots. Messrs. Willis and Co.. Warnford Court. W. Green. Liverpool, money scrivener. Sob. Mesas. Blackstock a nd Dunce, Temple. W. Swahili. Stewkley. Bucks, butcher. Sol. Mr. Ashfield, Staple Inn. J. Carr. Leeds, and D. R. Tetley, Armley, York, merchants. Sole. Messrs. Few, Ashmore, and Hamilton, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. L. Searle, Weybridge, Surrey, baker. Sols. Mesas. Thom. Boson and Co., Wuntord Court. S. Cramp, Vine Street, Westminster, corn dealer. Sols. Messrs. Sudlow and Co., Monument Yard. J. Wilde, While. Derby, cotton spinner. Sole. Messrs. Milne and Parry, Temple. H. Jones, Holywell, Flint, draper. Sol. Mr. Chester, Staple Inn. C. Harris. Bradford, Wilts, tanner. Sols. Mears. Du. Son. and Meredith, Guilford Street. T. Parrish, Kingawinford, Stafford, glass cutter. Sol. Mr. Williams, Swithin's Lane. R. Kay. Bury, Lancashire. cotton spinner. Solt. MOWS. Clarke. Richards. and Medcalf. Chancery Lane. S. George. Narberth. Pembrokeshire. linen draper. Soh. Messrs. Alexander and Moline. New Inn. J. L. Sludd. Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, merchant. Sol. Mr. Wilde, College Hill. J. William Birmingham, japanner. Sols. Messrs. Long and Austen. Holborn Court. Grays Inn. C. and J. N. M 0.., Portsmouth, grocers. Soh. MOUS. Alexander and Holme. New Inn. T. Abell, Nottingham, lace manufacturer. Sol. Mr. Knowles. New Inn. J. Fitagerald, Narrow Wall, Lambeth. timber merchant. SoL Mr. Shuter. Alillbank Street. Westminster. J. Longliurst, Kghain Hythe. Surrey, carpenter. Sol. Mr. Ronalds,Tokenhouse Yard. T. Watkins, Ross, Hereford. grocer. Sol. Mr. Jana, Boltlerdoury. Newell. Horsham. _ . S. Horsham. Surrey. baker. Solt. Messrs. Fisher and Munday. Furnival's Inn. DIVIDENDS. June 10. T. Jones, Liverpool, ship owner-6, J. Harrison. Sheffield, grocer -4, C. Mill, East Smithfield, provision dealer —3, J. Knight, Coppice Row. Clerkenwell, iron founder—ln. W. Founder, Basin coke, Hants, coach proprietor-3, W. Jennings, Aldersgate Street, butcher-6. E. Davis and W. Phil lips, Lambeth. brewers-3, E. Cohen. Broad Street, merchant 3, E. Parnell, Congleton, Cheshire, milliner-3. W. H. Cos, Broad Street, warel,oureman-24, C. A. W heelwright, Cullum Street, merchant-6, S. Grimwood. Bums, Suffolk, merchant— ', A. Aaron, Plymouth. silversmith-5, J. Moon, Manchester. cotton merchants-3, J. Harris. Haselot, Warwick, dealer-3.5. Hamblin, Woott n Underedge, Gloucester, innholder-3, W. Fisher, Union Place, Lambeth, mariner. CERTIFICATES to be granted J.me 3. D. Gerrard, Old Cavendish Street, milliner—J. Wood, [King Street, St. James's Square, breeches maker—R. Johnson. Francis Street, Tottenham Court Road, watch maker—F. W. Bowser, Bristol, sugar refiner—J. Sandbach. Live rpool. mer chant—R. Garnett. Nantwich, Chester, shoemaker—A. H. Matthewson, Gateshead, Durham. grocer—G. Steedman, Vans • hall, Birminggham, victualler—l. Hart. Southampton, grocer— W. Briant, Bennington, wine merchant—A. and J. R. Frost. Maetlestield„grueers—C. Poole, White Cross Street, . manufac turer—S. 81111 4 Darlaston, budford, dealer. Jerome Buonaparte, the Princess, his consort, his sister Elise, and Fouche, Duke of Otranto, are at present settled at Trieste, with tie permission of the Austrian Government. II • •