The National Register. — London, England, 1818-08-24 00:00:00

• ....4707 .- ‘ll:_ i . - (7 7 t e -'' .-1.- t : ( .- 4.- c 1.. .. .- . • .111' ' . . • • . . . . . . •- - . • j ",. A . i ' AOIA 1 • - ii ( Ito ita l 1. 1 ,• Jr ...tir ti ~t y .. ~, 4 1 ,: . J • ....:.4 ; ; •", % (5 , i ! ' + eang , I" • ,19 It? ecnt4titution anly No. 550.—V0i.. XI. MONDAY, AUGUST 'l4, 1818. Paic's NIL POLITICAL DISQUISITION. If we might presume to Ins.:ard a conjecture relative to some of the principal objects that will occupy the use• fill and lienountble Ilbeurs of the Congress, one of them will relate to the situation of the Ciermanie Powers, now in a state of consilexable doabt and =lesion, id consequence of the dissolution of the old tins that suh sisted, and the loos; oud i:uperfect d nal..lre of the new ties i that have gellace3 tteas. This Arflll be a - Work of .• great nicety and delicacy ; but nll alfli,adties will yield to the thorough conviction that the Congress is not in fluenced 1w any selfish or personal views, but solely by a desire to cement, consolidate, and secure the genera peace. Thorium besides fume questions of territorial Binh% which remain to be more accurately settled, par ticularly, if we arc not misinformcl, between Bavaria, Wurtemburgh, and Elcssc. REMIT OP THE cow - 1117LE OV TAE ritisoNs OF THE METROPOLIS. STATE' U Eugorl:. This important document respecting the state of the prisons v,ithitt the City of London and Borough of sonthwark, was ordered by the lionse of Com woos to b e print e d, ha s been just issncti from the press. The MitritLs of evithrtce extend to a very great lenwit. We intl! , t ourseives with giving the result of Om Consmittees investigation, with rept(' to the prin cipal prison, Newgate, as expressed in Cm followtug statement : There hese been, dur!ng the last week, considerable 'fiectuations iu the fends, which the Morning Chronicle r:opnted to the floating rumours of war with America the disputes between Spain and Portugal, leadiag taarvar in bionspe.--enette the 'Congress *bunt to meet rt x-horhapelh; having ‘iews of aggrandisement far the Great Powers, which would prObably lead to the disturbance of the pease or Latope There rumours • br.ve furnished nn occasion for a formal contradiai:nr of than appearing in the Courier, which, as it has every aPpearanx of being oflicial, we "IA here insert 1, As fur as the most authentic intelligence enables to ta form any c pinion ; as far, we believe,we may add, witho:zt fear of contradiaian, as any acconats have retched Government, then never was a dine ,inee the rzace concluded with the United States, in which that peace was less likely to be disturlx.d. So fur trout it, that the di:dornatie ecrrespondence between the two IC;lvernnmuts is conducted in the most amicable and curdial terms. As fur, therefore, as human foresight es../ divine into futurity, we hare, frum the friendly spirit now happily existing on each side of the Atlantic, every ground fbr expecting*. lasting peace. After this F;sitive statement, we t.t.;.d scarcely add, the insinua tions in the Morn 7 ng Gaymicle, of persons who arc idlers being in the seeret, ate utterly unfounded. " 2. With respect to Spain end Portugal, the differ ewes that ha.e firr some tints subsisted are certainly not adjusted. It is possible that Portugal may urge as an apology .for not giving up Monte VitLo, that the Spanish'Government might not be able to keep it against the effetts of the insurgents; and that if the latter did gbt pos..ession of it, the security of the Portuguese territories in that part of the American Continent might lc endangered. Then, Portugal, as a set oft' against II::: complaints made by the Spani,li Government rela- Ove to MenteVideo, may i ms.sibly reci r , rockte complaints :gainst the conduct of Spain to the Portuguese territo ries in Europe. " Uli the whole, therefore, it appears to putt Celt!. mittee, that so fin' as the construction atop extent Netvgate will permit, the treatment of the prism/i •. generally is such as meets with, their approbutiom The prison fare does not appear worse, or mere severe, tlii' is consistent with such an establishment, or injurieue to the health of the prisoners. " The attention of a former Committee was (limit!! to the cnevded state of Newgate, which at that time. was the place - of confinement, not only fir criminais but also for debtors. The new prison in Whitecross Street, has relieved Nervgate of the debtors ; yet, with the conviction of the importance of classification anrf separation, which your Committee cannot too frequent:e or too strongly press on the attentioe of tho House, they consider the accommodation of this prison as stilt altogether inadequate. " When the local position of Newgate is considered. and the great expellee :firmly incurred by the city of London, it cannot be expected that the present gsel should be pulled down, and a better constructed, more commodious, and n more extended prison erected in its place, which could only be effected at a most enormous expellee. Your Committee, thcreihrc, must confine their suggestions of improvement to a change ill the • approprietis oft)icioretillit nt" ts tfrWerltlerndlittve. that teriul improvement may be facilitated without any great or unreasonable sacrifice. The regular and immediete remora of convicts after °eery Sessions would give scope ihr many heportaut alterations; and provisila ought to be made for that purpose by an establishment, where, instead of heir. , in a state of filth and.idleness, the convicts may be usefully employed. And they may further remark, that if larcenies wore tried at the Quarter Sessions, as in other counties, instead of be ing tried 14 the Old Bailey, a considerable influx of prisoners would be prevented. But, it your Committee might venture to suggest what appears to them the most. expedient arrangement, they would recommend that, Newgate, as :matched to the Ohl Bailey, should be exclusively appropriated to prisoners for trial. On a review, then, of the whole evidence eoncerning New. gate, as wen as firm the observations they were ab:e to make while inspecting the prison, your Cfnmuittee are decidedly ofupinion, that the public interest requires a speedy alteration in the condition of Newgate. They impute no Liam:: to the pie:seta keeper (11r. Brown). and the orders end Regulations he hus adopted under the sanction of the City Maeistrates arc a great im provement ; but the want of sufficient room to classify the prisoners—the entire absence, us far as the men and boys are concerned, of all employment—the preens coons asseintlage of persons of all deecriptions, ages, and characters of crime, have deeply impressed your Committee with the opinion, tour no one can enter the. walls of Netvgate without going out from tbence more sli.praved and corrupted than when first committed thereto. And though the Magistrates of the city of London have shewn a praiseworthy disposition to re medy the grierunces complained of in thriller times, vet from the -over crowded state of the prison, mind the confined accommedation for its numerous inleibitants, tilt Main and prominent evils column be removed and still loos ovould it be possible so to regulate its it...- tenor arrangement as to fit it for tiros,. purposes et re- Ihrtnatery punished& welch the good of society re- " The diffemnees between Spain mid Portugal will on this Congress be discussed and finaily settled: " The relative situations and privileges of different religious persuasions, particularly of the Jews, who hi therto, partici-J.oly in Germany, have been so griev ously oppressed, may be another point of diseurskm. " It may he, too, that the Cmigress will take into its consideration the different military eswblishtnents to be kept up by each power. " hese arc some of the principal subjects—others there am of less importance. But we have enumerated enouglt to show that peace, not wer—consolidatinn, • not aggression—are the aim ani objects of the Con gress. .Ind we conelacle•by repeatinl v , diet if we were to.naple,the ppried when a long and l happy peace was likely to An - the' &n lin en t nations, 'fat d • 114* the pa,o4l3l3xhielait bush thiheal&o: the British public." " But, be this as it may, the differences, though yet unadjusted, will not, we mny safely predict, lead to any rupture between them. Without being more explicit, e may conclude by saying, that they will not go to v.-ar in orpobition to tha expreaied wcll and policy of the great Allied Powec•s; wiFeb policy iv prod decis;rely dui Me peace of Europe sitall mu: be disiurbed. " This last assertion, in which we are sure we shall not be contradicted, might save as a sufficient reply and refit:P.:ion of the last rumour, that the Congress about to be la.sunbled is more likely to light up the flames of war then to confirm mil emu:Aid:de the biemings Of peace. But we will not discuss this point so briefly. It is well known that the Congress of Vi enna, interrupted and broken up so unexpectedly by tile irruption of Iluonaprte barn two. many puints un settled. The rant:tua events, the trcatits emsse &atilt upon the second entrance into Paris. the estahlill. ra , tnt troops in the French territories, ren dered it ine:ipelli,:nt to re-assemble a Congress until the claims upon France l•ad been liquidated, or stlin..icnt security given for the liquPation, and until Frawe h 6(x:a restored to such a state of internal tranquillity as render the military occupation no longer ttecf..snary That period, it is sail, is deemed by the Allied Powers to have arrive.l, uml the evacuation 13 to Nix ilace be fore the commencement of Noyeather. Ifeure Vraoce, so imps taut and necessary a party to any orruizgcirlent end:racing the whole tl.e Een-i•k f.uAily, tviil be. Ode to assist at the ill :1 in re lice :rid un fettered state than she th , • (Hn- t. 14 I et.ll i.cl3 is Oar iravrvol i,; !nix sictt,.tt:rc ti the trtaty at ttrt: tr.:: of z li pon the subject of America, the seizure of the Floridas by the ambitious Republic did not appear to us so fraught with war by any means as the appar, nt murder of Mr. Arbuthnott, and of our allies the Se mincle Indians. It is very probable that the Floridas have been sold, bat that a little left-handed policy act the part of Spain has been thought necessary to clis glib::: the transaction. If this has not best► the case, Spain is so little able to resent the insalt, and a pecu niary indemnity would be so convenient to her, that tbif result, in all probability, will be the same. But the conduct of the Ame:ican authorities towards a British subject has every appearance of being so outrageous, that we doubted what:ter that mild ba loaked over by England, even in her present breathless situation Front the foregoing ❑rticle in the Miniszerial paper, it should appear, either that the information as yet received by Minis:ers does not warrant so unfavourable a con elusion, or that our 6:wenn:tent has re: rived assurances from the American Minister, that either the act will be ',roved to have been justifiable, or that satisfaction will be given. The article (Inez not in any way hint even at Arbuthnott's case, and is thus reserved, proba bly, in order not - to compromise Administration, in the resent stage of the business, either with the country, er with the Ameri.•an negociator. Its peaceable cha racter is, tlieretbre, rather negative, and ought not to mate us too sqnguine in our conclusions that nothing hostile will arise out of the affair of Arbuthnott. As to the C:mgross, it is not at all probable that that lead to war; but the evacuation attic French territory is a circumstance of a much more questionable charac ter. A private letter from Rio Janeiro of ale Qd of June s .vs, tlt:tt among the cortairs whien they are arming at Citiii, there is an En". 14.11 vesse":. the ‘l'indham. fler crew is composed of ofTivers and seamen of all nations, :mil she has just left l'illibtruiso. They expect every ni . waent th e arrival of Lind Cochrane, either at Chili fly ea Buenos Ayi es. The Ltal Feen lionniroonslv elczice Pri!- sirli:ot of fit. 'lln , non.s I I 4pital in the r^ctu t i L. 1,,;t N7r ('. Pi i, r , r:at. qui, es." The 3.000,0°01. received frotn France to indctanify the 11ritish claimants for their losses through the cacti :maces of the French Government, will remain un touched till the next Session, when an Act of Apitro ',dein,' i$ to be passed. The Board for the investigittion, of the claims of B r i t i m l i subjects on the Government et* FraTlCe, which has been established at Paris ainec fire rear 1814, is now transferrcl ti, I.entlon. 7be cnnutti..thaterCoe. thy. ! ; , ) , :5 ,. ; Pdrligractit Suo.t %, Lida was lat2c.• ,titc .I.ruivralyodice.