The National Register. — London, England, 1818-02-16 00:00:00

~,- 4 L ~~ i - A e - 7 I )7 //KZ / J • :)./.laition-iit Our Eiing, Con6tittition ant( itainl. No. 5,23.---VoL. XI MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1818. POLITICAL. DISQUISI'IION. culty, and subject them to the vindictive machinations of those who conceive themselves persecuted by the acts of the Government Although disapproving of the man ner in which the Committee has been formed, yet have we too high an opinion of some of the gentlemen com posing it, to doubt for a momentof their inclination and ability to investigate the whole conduct of Ministers; and we will give them credit for possessing spirit suf ficient to prompt them to an avowal of their discoveries even should they sink in a minority. It is mentioned as a grievous fault, that the evidence before the Committee is furnished by those who are to be tried; be it so, the industry of the opposite party is such, that, although the Ministry may gain their Indemnity, they will not go without an exposure. How far the ex posure mar lower them in the estimation of the Public, it is not for us to r v; but after the narrafives with which Messrs. Plitt and Co. amused their auditory at the Crown and Anchor, we think they may safely trust their cause to the good sense of their countrymen. Mr. Bennet has announced the evidence in his mus session with great confidence as containing overwhelm ing fitcts against the Executive, but we repeat that it is not a man like Mitchel, who was ciwa-,feep i.: all the schemes of the disaffected that con furnish matter of charge against those who imprisoned him. The Com mittee will well comider this, and the House will consider, whether it is prudent to tes:cr the spirit of disati-:ction by attempts to criminate the Niinistry, or whether they will n - A render a greater service to the community by-confirming those acts by wllivh the tran quillity of the Country was restored, even in less time than the most sanguine had anticipated. l'iticE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRANCE. Pmars, Fri. 9.—The Royal Clemency has been extended to the 74 persons condemned by the Pre vote! Court of Lyons. for participating in the seditious movements of the month of June last. The 39 cendernned to a short imprisonnieLt have received a tree pardon, and tile reishment elfin. remaining 35, who were condemned either to deportation or five years' imprisonment and forced labour, bias hero mitigated Into an imprisonment of a shorter duration, which carries along with R nn mirk of infamy. ate M. Rocca, whose marriage with Madame de Steel was net' publishes till after the death of that celebrated woman, di-'l lately at Hieres of a huge' in.. 4 disease with which he was attacked several years ago. He was a member of the Legion of Honour, and had served with distinction in several iraon• paigns. He published two well-known works, one on the wars of the French in Spain, and another, eutitied " The Cam paign of Antwerp and Waleberen." TURKEY. CONSTANT/110Pu,, 3C , 4 3. —The Enstlish Ambassador to the Porte, is -till at v.iiiance with the Divan, on lecontit 01' th.t indernsiitier for the two forts of Picocsa and Uuitrintn. The Porte always lays the blame on the Paella of Janina, and these negncia im.x lead to new references, The Russian Minister ha, at length had the conference' with the lick Efrondi, which was fiv.d for the 11th of Deceit,. her; one of the priuctptil points in debate is the reistilatiim of the ind-ieniiies to :no risen by Turkey to Russia, according to the tre:l:-.• of Eveharest, tlie final exeetttion of which is still delayed. Strom.. represertatiens were also made re,. pecting the comilaints whirl, the Si•rviens camtiiine ti• mak- - of the ill ti eat which the, suffer from the Tail Leib airt nt.. The Turkish Gorr ennient allydgrd i•i ramose the dial rutty of wet ifyin3 the st.ttemetits of the I':.i . has, And of me fier iiot Walwodes who accuse them. It wile or remembered that tro! Governor of a Russian pert in tne Enxine stopped a Tn. ki•it ealley, Dad forced the feeemaiiikr to t virago , : on boasd V/1,0 were tint MNltellterlllll. This act of vitnelice did nut call:tea* initch sensation at Constaittlimple as tC44 ; the ills ',me did not crow warns till some female Cireas.illos Wry's, spoken of, who were also in the hands of the Tot Led' Cum. inatelet, and the lawful poereesion of whims was rooteatts4 with him. At the end of this memorable coisti , rence. tau brothers (Italians) were introduced in the metal form as lira, goniads recently attached to the Russian Legation to this Parle. ON THE SECRET COMMITTEE. THE powers which the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act at any time, places in the hands of Mi nisters, enable them to commit acts, which, when these powers are withdrawn, subjects them to suits at Com ities Saw. present this, it Ira* ever beers the prac tice or the two Muses or Parliament to grant them a Bill of Indemnity,' by which they are secured front the necessity of pleading as individuals, in defence of sots done in their Ministerial capacity. To obtain such an Indemnity, the present Ministers, are, like all their predeceasors who have been placed in similar cir cumstances, no doubt extrentely anxioas, nor can curb sacc,urity with any propriety e deaied, when the Le gislature is satishe: that the great powers intrusted to the I.x:tetra:ye hare not been ribused. To ascertain this, is practi able throagii the labours of a Cora nr,ittee, sad to this Committee, the conduct of the present Minister:: has been submitted The only points at issue betwean the two appacing parties hi the [louse of C0M1110713, ate; the manner i, which that Committee has been formed, itaa the .:in of information which has been communicated to it, by which its opinion of the guilt or inneeence of the Nliaisters must be regu lated. We are free tc confess that we are among the number of those aho approve of the Commiltee being secret, but with the moaner of its form at ion we arc less sa tisfied, c: - rather we shuuld say w e o.re dissatisfied with the manner in which s-uchConimittees arc usually furmed,for thernmmoupractice hod not been in thisinstancedeparted from. If by ballot be decimal a proper mode of proceed ing in the formation of a Committee, it ought to be fairly and honestly done, and no juggling tricks be re .,Ortcd to, as was the race last session, when upon some oecasi.m, which we have now forgot, Mr. Brougham.. previously to a ballot, produced a list, which he had somewhere obtained, and which corresponded exactly with the names afterwards chosen by the ballot ! Of this description we strongly suspect the recent proceed cg to have been, and we lament it the more. because we think, notwithstanding all that hasbeen said, M inis mrs might safely trust themselves in Ora hands of a Committee fairly chosen. Not all the asperity of Mr. Bennet,nor the more solemn and ostentatious, arguments of Sir Samuel Romilly, will be able to persuade the na tion, that under the Suspension Act, Ministers did not "bear their faculties meekly." Those who actually suffered by its operation, may complain and heap cU manner of abuse upon:their persecutors, as they choose to call them, but to us who can firm a pretty correct estimate of the value of Mitchell's evidence given to Mr. Bennet, the sufferings which are narrated with all the aggravations which party hostility can give them, appear to be but slight punishment furtive offences which many of the pristmers committed. It has been, oddly enough, made :natter of charge against the Minister, that he did nut apprehend an individual of rank under the tusdeesion, ea I the same gentleman who made this charge, in the same breath accused him of having thrown a drag net over the country, a ndtaken all that came in its way ; Without observing that one part of this charge beics the other, we would appeal to every dispassion eta man whether the conduct of Ministers was such as to deserve this ? How many obnoxious men might they act " with bare-faced power," have swept from their sight, "and bade the law avouch it !" had they been diepoeed to stretch their power to the utmost. Bat to return to the Committee. It is charged upon the Ministry as a crime that they have made it secret ; and it is argued that ecereey was no longer necesdary since, by their own account, 01 danger Waal past ; , but can there Le no imp.: %.,;1 . ,..%.• in mewing names and c*.rculustanctiovhich 11. , ,ia1.t involve intlividuale THE LEVEE Thursday the Prince Regent hada Levee at Carlton house; being the first since the lamented death of the Princess Charlotte, and the only one that has been held 1;)r more than six months, it was extremely crowded. The usual preliminary ceremonies were complied with ; the military band, and a due proportion of toot guards, lifeguards, and constables, were ix attendance. The company began to enter about one o'clock, and continued to set down till half past three. At.a quar ter past two Ole Prince of Hesse llomberg arrived, in one of the Prince Regent's carriages; he was in fill: military uniform, and attended by state-servants ; he was presented to the 'Prince Regent by Lord Stewart-, at the entree levee, previous to the general one. At this previous levee was also introduced Mr. Rush, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America : he was presented by Lord Castlereagh, as Foreign Secretory, and was most graciously received. The Secretary and Under Secretary, Mr. Adams Smith, and Mr. Taylor, were likewise presented. The Duke of San Carlos, the Spanish Ambassador, next underwent the same ceremo nies, and was similarly received, as also was ►he Baron (iucldt and Count ',wird: The Dukes of York, Cla rence, Cumberland, and Gloucester, the Areh/,ishop of Canterbury, the Cabinet Ministers, the Household Of fie, rs of the Queen ana Regent's Establishment, the principal Law Officers, the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, mud some other official persons attended is their_approxriat: dresses and unitbrin. It appears by a German Riper, that many of the Hanoverian Nobility will go to Cassel, to be present at the approaching marriage of the Mae of Cambridge, and that the Baronntss Kielmanscgge is appointed one of the Ladies of Honour to his intended bride. This is a name not unknown in England. A Baron Kielman segge was Muster of the borne to George I. as Elector of Hanover., and the Baron's Lady was invested with several English titles. A daughter of this lady was mother of the late Earl I love, so that the present Ba roness las :amp? relatives in this canner•. The Lord Chancellor has fixed the clays for hearing appeals and writs of error, in the House of Lords on the Mondays, Wednesdays, and fgl(l•tes dating tile Sessieu of pa4liuttaat, oa whith days Mr. Vice Chan cellor -sit at therourt 6f Clish eery far the Ilisinttch re not 7),tsinesi. SOUTH AMERICA. The packet from /Co de Janeiro brings letters from that place to the 12th Dec. They describe the rapid decline of Artigas's power. A division .31 his sent from the Vraguay oppose the Portniciese general Cariido Itad been defeated: one of the Chiefs. Verdun, was taken prisoner, and the other, Moodragon, killed. Otorgues still hloci:aded Monte Video ; bet 400 black troops, which made a part of his division, de serted to the Portugnese on condition of bring sent to Bur -1103 Ayres, which was done. General Pinto is named Go' vernor of Monte Vileo, and left Rio de Janeiro in November, he is to proceed front the frontier with 3,000 cavalry to rein force General Lecor, who is then to make a movement on the Viaguay, which, for thr present, seems to be the liillll3 of the Purtit e est operations. At Monte Video some Spaniut its of a turbulent dispositica were lately arrested ; they are said to he on their way to Rio de Janeiro, in a Portuguese brig of oar. Letters front Guayaquil and PittlalllA It Ate been received by way of Jamaica. They state, that in November, a ship and some smaller privateers, under the Buenos Ay res :lag, had ap. peered on that coast, and capterrd two brigs and one packet ; itt consequence, the trade was at a stand, and 110 force near to protect it. By the Nereid, from Trinidad, several communications re lating to Venezuela have beet; reeeiseti. The Patriots are said to have gained an into:want :tetion in the itekhbourhood of Nutria, on the roalities of the proeineen of Varinas earl. Carthagetta. Bolivar, from dissension, and other causes, ap pears to !levy been delayed in his operations for abont three months, but he had at leugth set sail, with 1,800 men, to join • General Darns and others aatomitiling near Calahozo, forte leagues south of Cameras. A Council of State was formed hi Angostura, on the 10th of Nov. for the admasiti.:ion of Government. rriog to the Act of Installation, Mitch we - have to room to insert. General Bolivar, as Supreme Chief, opened tire , itting u! tit an appropriate speech, and the various officers were mom d. This Council is rih idiot into three iir. it,trniteuts —State and Ftirinee. of which the President is Don Antonin Lea ; War ar 1 Morin..., President Admiral Rrion ; Interior mot Justice. l)ou Joao Stirtille7. A 1:03n1 of Tra.le Itac also been orgivitruti. Geneva! Monagar had net n ininse4 Governor of t he pros ta..e of flarcrlona, and General Hermit (fez of th it of CIII , :3114. 'Vise island of Margirethr was :mike ito:ectlit Arisicenili and Gem-4mM the isravil4el'S ef Vari tw t and CAIS AIM :4 miller General Pier. General Gedemo cam manded in tintayana. The organiz. troops aeioN;itig to Vote uezitria arc 11,000 men. Ti,: heirs of M. Bertrand, a Protestant Mt : lister at Borne, have discovered, among elan:capers of that Clergyman, a great number o' Cgallished letters of Voltaire, most of tellieb aro : 4 gown hand-writing, and all of which bear his mg ; pure. It is said thee they arc to be forthwith pulili.ned at Paris. The pc.. licks, morals, and rel i gion of Foltaitv arc nearly buried, we hope: by this time, un.ler the ruins w hi c h they ( have occasioned hut the !o tt ers o f mere amusement may have the t:tiwity well repaid by any ger ulna fragments of 7 l. ext:a;:e.inary tnough Lnprincirktt writcr. niift finance their tid' fc ,,ice the the E.r the Op at the partial ! map tie any day •ropotate 'thrliary y tender it behay r!ary. Rt Ken. of his non. in burthen lout any :Kies wiz !Itch the ;ers were t-street o e lady of dy Luey C. q. R. , cf and Co:- itle, the mAtrect, ent —At eutenant Le irmer urtices of ryalty of r.?rnings nice& but icy being samp:rs • likewi , e Lin.ies4 Nf oneny, is Inn-.r. As sun ?Th s. F. 26 a 70 IS a 2 '73 a !•0 70 a'3 I. a 5,2 L it ele me. 1.0 I i't:oie St It rarnA - -7., d. s. 4 1 . I 4 a 4, 4 Ifa 4 4 40 a 6 14a 6 0 .) 0 u 0 $ C s. d. 5 5 0 2 7 4 9 6 2 J 1 5 a 0 6 to 0 2 12 6 11, 1S 4AL r rayab:e Kau rdisi ) 21 13-16 No. IR2 an,l Pow Novarch= 4 + Ck, • 'd . .y l ( , *: ;'• ‘ T : It‘ ' ; EsccA %DU ., .*ER, 4 • ' I -- .. 0 2 ,