The National Register. — London, England, 1816-03-18 00:00:00

POLITICAL DISQUISITION. AIiANDON M ENT OF 'ME PROPERTY-TAX. WE believe we may congratulate the country on the approaching triumph of its exertions. Whatever opinion wo- may entertain of a modified Property-Tax, it is evi dent that the nation rejects it with horror. We are not of those who set their own wisdom above all other wis dom ; who wish to silence the feelings, or to deride the prejudice.; of the people. As in a case of corporeal suffer ing we conceive the patient entitled to admit, or to ref'cae, the prescription of his physician; in a case of national painfulness and anguish, we allow the same right to the country. Theorists may descant at their ease, on the merits of particular plans: they may fora beautiful sys tems, and defend them on the most reasonable grounds ; but their most splendid constructions, like Milton's trans formed angel, cannot stand the touch of that wand of trial, experience. Speculation, if it be attended with the sym pathies of humanity, will always be checked in its wild est course, by this waople remonstrance—" we have fell the effects of the to assures which you propose, and hence resist their renewal." This is now the -universal lan guap:•e of the British nation ; the language of those fin whos: service the measure is to be adopted or rejected ; and to whom it is therefore just to grant, not only am at tentive, but a submissive hearing. . _ On what grounds do we found our expectations that the voice of the country will be obeyed ? On symptoms of' a doubtful mind, which the Administration frequently, and perhaps unconsciously, betrays,--on defections, en couraged by that vacillation which they contribute to stsgment ; and on steps, preparatory to a retreat, which all have.not.an opportunity, or vigilance, enough to ob serve. There are tactics in political, as well as in mili tary warfare, which need only be studied attentively, to reveal the intended march, and sometimes the ultimate results, of systems and measures. Towns alone arc not carried by storm. A bold and sudden attack may often gain an important State question. Such was the course adopted with respect to the Property-Tax. Its renewal was announced on the very first day of the Session ; its discussion fixed fur an almost immediate period, and all the strength and activity of Government thrown into the teale to hurry the decision. It was justly felt to be a question which must be carried by promptness and vi gour of attack, as its defences were too strong to yield to any thing but a surprise. It was, in fact, a political Gibraltar. The attempt was made, and it failed. The vigilance of the_ Opposition, and the illness of a Minister, created delays, which enabled the country to marshal her force, and rush to the relief of the threatened point. From that moment Ministers considered the measure as nearly 16st. Their first symptom of despondency was totally unnoticed by the public. It was the postponement of the Committee en the Bank Advance Bill. By protracting the course and completion of that measure, they reserved to themselves a means of supplying the deficiency which the loss of the Property-tax might cause in their financial arrangements ; for, .on the decision of that question against them, they would have only to call upon the Bank to double advance ; and the mere alteration of a clause in that FA, would remove all their difficulties. Their next symptoms of increasing doubt and desponden cy were, the repeated postponements of the discussion on the Property-Tax itself. They had some hope of repairing the failure of their first attempt, by gaining time for the arrival of the Irish Members, on whose support they re lied us the last pillars of their cause. This hope is now also vanished. The appeal made . by General Mathew, to the honour of his countrymen, not to impose upon Eng land a tax from which Ireland is exempt, has been duly answered. We are assured, from sources in which we place implicit credit, that no less than fifteen of the Irish Members have signified their intention to Ministers, ei ther not to vote on this question, or to vote against it. It was probably after having received this information, that Lord Castlereagh attempted to gain further time in order to sound the other Members, and proposed to put off the discussion of the Property-Tax, fixed in the most defini. tive manner for to-morrow night, on the futile ground that there was a grand dinner at the Freemasons' Tavern, for the charity of St. Muria. Foiled iu this last attempt, the Chancellor of the Ex chequer scarcely concealed the almost total abandonment of his hopes. The House having on Thursday last gone into a committee on the Bank Advance Bill, he defended that measure on the very ground " that the advance on the part of the Bank would prevent the necessity of a loan ; and, that should a loan lie ultimately required, it would. reduce its ouluuut." The Report of the Cow. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. mats was then put off to the mixt day ; and when it was received on Friday, the third muliug of the Bill was postponed to Thar Allay next, three days after the fate of the Property Tax shall have been scaled. It is on these grounds, and we trust we have shown that they were more than mere speculations, that we found the expec tations we now held out to the putlie. The nation, we now lrAieve, will have her wish. May it turn to her advantage; and may the gratification of her f,...lings be attended with the removal of her temporary distresses, and the enjoyment in uninterrupted felicity of that superior glory and power, which her own exertions and the blessings of Heaven have bestowed upon her, the tivoured amongst the nstions of the earth. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. • LONDON: MONDAY, MARCH 18. BY French Papers to the 15th, we learn that the re cruiting of the army proceeds with regularity, but still with slowness, owing to the great caution necessary to be observed in making selections from the old soldiery, and the general want of young men fit for arms who have not before served. It appears by these papers that economy is loudly proclaimed on all sides throughout all Franca, and by all authorities. The good King sets the example by givinF, up 10 millions of franofrom his civil list. The Mirustcrs follow. They make a gra duated deduction from all salaries, beginning so low as 500 francs (a little more than '2Ol. sterling), and going up to the highest. According to this scale, the lowest class contributes 1 per cent. on the amount of their sala ries, and the highest class no less than 83 per cent. ! The Finance Committco, however, have improved still fur ther on their principle, for they have added a clause to prevent the accumulation (f places; or, at least, of their emoluments in the hands of the same individual. It is said, that the Empress Maria Louisa, in conse quence of the pressing solicitations of her father, will proceed immediately to Venice, to assume the Govern ment of Parma, Placentia, and Guastella. All the French who were in her suite, had been previously dis missed. Her son does not accompany her, but remains in Vinna, under the care and superinteniance of the Austrian Government. _ _ There is a long circular letter in these papers from the Minister of the Interior, M. de Vaublanc, to the Pre.. reds, in which he notices the alarming reports and ma nreuvres of various kinds which the disaffected employ to agitate the public mind. A mail from Holland arrived on Saturday. The pa pers by it are to the 13th instant, and are nearly filled with the ceremonials at the marriage of the Prince of Orange and the Emperor Alexander's sister at St. Pc tersburgh. The Duke of Wellington was shortly ex pected to leave Paris, in order to inspect the right wing of the army of occupation and the cautionary fortresses. Serious quarrels continue to take place between the Prus sians and French. His Prussian Niftiesty had ordered his troops to wear mourning for three days, for the death of Count linlow. The report of the intended transfer of the Prussian territories on the left bank of the Rhine to the Emperor Alexander, by whom it is further rumoured they were to be given as a marriage portion with his sister to the Prince of Orange, has been officially con tradicted by the Prussian government. American Papers are arrived to the 14th ult. The late official and warlike communications between the Spanish Ambassador anti the American Government have been followed by the departure of his Excellency the Chevalier de Onis from the United States. The Commercial Treaty between this country and America is already acted upon on the part of the United States. A British vessel is named which had arrived, and under these new regulations paid only 100 dollars instead of 950. The extra duties taken subsequent to the 22.(1 Dectinber from British vessels, arc in such cases ordered to be returned. The House of Commons on Friday went into a Com mittee, to consider the Message of the Prince Regent, on the approaching marrial, , e of the Princess Charlotte of Wales with Prince Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg. The sum of 60,000 L a year has been propose:: as a suitable pro vision fur the illustrious persons, and we arc sure that there is not a single individual in the country that will say that it is too much fiur the occasion. 1t is truly gra titYing to hear the flattering manner in which the cha racter of the young Prince is mentioned by persons who have the best information cn the subject. The Queen will hold a Drawing Room on Thursday. Her Majesty pays great attention to the arrangements making fur the establishment of the Princess Charlotte of Wale:. Several entertainments will be given at Buck ingham House on occasion of the marriage. The Prince of Saxe COBOUpGiI is happily recovered from a vioknt attack of rheumatism in his head, caught by travelling in an open:a:lilac from Vicuna on his wny to Englaal mAncit 18. *7, be t)3eD;cal monitor. NU:lll;Lit V. taxi's POPULI SUPREMA EST LZZ. RHEUMATIC affections still occupy a prominent station in the numerical list of complaints, which present themselves to medical observation. The disease has not only appeared in its distinct and proper term of acute rheumatism, attended with swelling and rigidity of the different joints of the body, but has also shown itself' in various painfid affections of the muscular structure. The facc-rzch has been universally prevalent; which, although apparently a disease of no great importance, occasions, nevertheless, a considerable degree of pain and distress. • The surest means of relief consist in the application of tlisters in the neighbourhood of the affected part ; which, by promoting a copious discharge, take oil that tension of the vessels which either causes or aggravates the mu plaint. The sensibility of the part appears also to 1)e morbidly inere:aed to a considerable degree,—a circum stance which indicates the use of opium or other nar cotics, after due evacuations have been obtained from the system by appoipriate medicines. The acute rheumatism, when it exists with great severity, is very apt, after the general constitutional affection has subsided, and the in creased action of the vessels has diminished, to be site ceded by chronic rheumatism, often a tedioas and pain ful complaint. This effect is also more likely to take place, when the disease, during its acute state, has been improperly treated. It has commonly a very great dis position to shift its points of attack, and oftentimes spon taneously quits its present residence, to take up its abode in a new quarter. The relief, therefore, experienced a pained limb, is often fallacious; and when obtained by the local application of liniments and lotions, is sometimes purchased at the hazard of repelling the disease, to some internal, perhaps vital, part. An important fact has. lately engaged the attention of pathologists, which seems previously to have escaped observation. Several cases of sudden death, attributed by ordinary lookers-on to apo-. plexy, have been found to originate in a severe and sud den rheumatic affection of the heart ; the muscular fibres of which, having been rendered incapable of performing ;heir due contraction, the circulation has been stopped, and death consequently ensued. It is probable, that a similar event would take place from an extensive affection of the diaphragm, the muscle which divides the cavity of the thorax or chest, from the abdomen ; as respiration principally depends upon the motion of that muscle for its regular pertbrmance ; 'and without respiration, we know life could not Ion! , subsist. In all the fatal in stances of rheumatism of the heart, hitherto observed, the patient had' previously been subject to the external dis ease, viz. the affection of the muscles or joints. This tact, of the retrocession of the disease ought to make us extremely cautious in the employment of topical reme dies; and shows the impropriety of seeking temporary ease by the DEC of WHITEHEAD'S Essence of Mustard, or other advertised nostrums, at the probable expense of inducing an unlooked for and tidal termination. I can not be understood to forbid all topical applications in rheumatic affections ; on the contrary, when judiciously employed, especially in the latter stages of the chronic complaint, they arc highly useful. It is the misappli cation of them only I would guard against ; and in many cases I would recommend the suilerers under this corn. plaint, rather "'l'o bear those ills they have, " Than Hy to others that they k.iow not of." One consolation it is in my power to offer them : It not unfrequently happens, that those persons, who are habi tually subject to rheumatic affections, enjoy, in other re spects, a good state of health ; the natural and vital time tions are regularly and duly perfonned ; and such persons arc exempt from those stomach and bilious complaints which so much annoy many others; an exemption proba bly purchased by the liability to rheumr.tism, and to con tinue no longer than the prevalence of that affection. Among the curative means recommended in rheumatism, one may be mentioned, which can, at least, be practised wiCoout danger, and is said to have been eminently ser viceable. It was suggested, and adopted by a gentleman, not of the medical profession, who, is consequence of having, learned that a oelebrated rice-horse at Newmar ket had been cured of a disorder which had all the symp toms of rheumatism, by sweating in body-clothes, after every other remedy had filled, attempted his own cure by similar means. The method proved completely sue ccsdul : on the first attempt, this gentleman could, with great difficulty, and in considerable pain, prweed ; every succeeding walk diminished his sufferings ; and after the sixth, he was as free from pain as he had ever been in his life. The recital of this case is interest. 'ing and curious, and will appear, in our next number, in the patient's own words, as extracted from the 3d voL of the Medico-Chiruruical Transactions. 'rite attention of the public, no less than that of the facolty, is directed to the measures about to be adopted by Parliament for the regulation of Mad-houses. This is a serious and important question; and the desire shown by the promoters of the plan, to ameliorate the lot of the unfortunate tenants of these abodes, is highly laudable. The few comforts which it is in the power of the mclan. chub' vi‘thus of ins:Lai:l to enjoy, ought surely to be al.