The National Register. — London, England, 1808-04-18 00:00:00

'lt Till] NATIONAL 'REGISTER t borough ignorance of the topic from which he draw • his attempt at illustration. The answer (ss hich as orittinally delivered was •ambignons, but which as quoted here, is absolute nonsense), was given $4l no Roman General, but to Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, Who wished to assist the Tarentines against the Romans. But he Romans and thei;*enemies are all alike to The ladrpendenl : the Editor, like Scrub in the Bronx Stratagem, holm s it wa; one or the other, hut whether it were Sullen or Dorinda h does not care. However, we are unwilling that his readers should give him credit for quite so much classical information as he assumes, when, from both the illustrations he has attempted, he real fact appears most clearly to he, that he has been told a'iout ithou I ha ving read Shakespea re , and heard of the Romans and the Oracle, without having looked into the Latin and Greek historians. But if he does not understand Latin or (reek. we should advise him to get a translation next time he attempt. any allusion to a passage in a dead lan g uage. For the wen's of the Oracle, " Credo le, ./Earida, dumanos " ;ppm.," though they leave an ambiguity, yet do not directly assert a self-evident proposition, such as, " You will run e quer them, or they you :" for Pyrrhus would have laughed at that : but by a transpnsition of words the sense is thus guard ed : " I think that you the Romans may overcome :" and thus it is left to Pyrrhus to understand the words either as " You " may overcome the Roinatis," or as " The Romans may over " come you." But how does this sentence, correctly or incor rectly given, apply to the Nlinisters ? The Ministers simply SOS, " We know nothing certain, and therefore nothing certain can " we tell you." What follows is still more worthy of observation : " If the Ministers were informed of the relative positions' " of our squadrons, and those of our enemies, one would s uppose " that they could, is ith equal facility, tell us precisely is here " they were, and what they were ; o f how many they consi-ted " and what dispatches had been transmitted by our own tom " manders upon the subject. Now, if the relative situation' `• of the hostile fleets were such as to render an engagement " probable, there is great reason to believe that before " this time an engagement must have taken place : and, if sue " cessfid, Ministers must know it : and if no action have been " fought, they must know the reason why, unless we suppose " what is not very probable, or. at least not very creditable to " their abilities—that they are perfectly informed of their re " lati ye positions, but wholly unacquainted with their subse " (pent operations. The truth is, in our opinion, that Minis " tens have either received 'some unpleasant intelligence which "•thoy are atm Ming to disclose to the public, or that they are " shamefully .gnarant alma the subject.'' Is the Editor of this Newspaper foolish enough to suppose, that because Ministers knew such and such fleets to be sailing toward such and suchpoints, and could form by that means some idea of the relative position of those fleets, therefore they must kg iw precisely where the naval forces were ? Does he think that a vo4sel is to arrive every day from each fleet, giving an account of the Number of leagues that beet may have sailed, and o;'the enact latitude in which that fleet still is ? Does he he lie. e, that against adverse winds the news of an engagement must come home at the rate of twenty knots an hour ? Does hr Caney, that if the engagemeitt have been successful, Ministers most know of it by intuition ? or that, if it have been disastrous, they are in a moment to be acquainted with the reason? If he does not really think all this, he is critninitl in attempting to raise the discontents of the people by publishing it : and if he does, he must he the silliest man that ever talked politics in an ale house. We remember to have read in a fairy tale, that a Prince, called the Royal Ram, " was fond of news, and always " had the best ;" hut we believe that this happy prerogative is confined to the princes in fairy tales, and that the govern- Dellas of real society Call command neither the certain arrival nor the nattire of their news. The concluding assertion, then, that in their opinion Ministers knew something unpleasant, or shamefully - knew nothing, is too ridiculous to require any fur ther cononect. That they knew nothing on this subject could have been twater of no shame: and that they knew soinethiw; ussoleasunt been disproved by the last accounts, which i:iffirtu us that au battle has been fought. thas•exitoferl the folly and vulgArity of this Paper reittari:: Ott forektt zttnirs, 11r raiher rvizmrki gja altair:-, !,I,:111 perhap, in some future im;;•ber, any c011le thillg•of the pyrs t.tuoze ul ttich to- 1 -:e to d•lqi...sti , • APRIL lg. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. - PROM THE FRENCH, DUTCH, GIR3f.IN I AND 11.1MRCIMfi PAPERS. ~~.. • ..'••••• ~.,..• 1 FRANCE. PA n ts, !%I Allyn 21.—lty a Decree of the 17Fh of this month, his Nlajestv has ordered the execution of the measures determin ed on at Paris in December last respecting the Jews. ASs na gmrue and Israelite Consistory is- to be established for esery `?000 Jews, but there can be only one Consistorial S'ila t ro f rae. fora Department. The Uonsistory is to superintend the and see that their teaching he conformable to the dot trines of the Grand Sanhedrin. They are to give informatiln re*pevting the Jess ish Conscripts of their districts. I:vcry Jew who wishes to settle in France or Italy, must give three months pre. Sinus notice to the nearest Consistory. here h to be a central Consistora at Paris ; each Consistory is to have a Cram' R a bbi, elected by Yrs Notables. The Rabbis of the Central Cons;.tory are to base a salary of 6000 francs; those of the Consistorial Synagogue 1000, and the other Rabbis are not to have less than I OM francs. Another Imperial Decree, dated the 17th, annuls all ohliza tions for loans made by Jews to minors, without the sanction of their guardians, to married women without the con•ent of their hosbands, or to military men, without the authority of their superior officers. Bilk granted by French sultjects to .leer cannot he demanded, unless the holders prove that full value was given without auy fraud. All debt, accumulated be inte rest above 5 per cent. are to he reduced hy the Courts of Law. If the interest growing on the capital exceed t per cent: the contract is to he declared usurious. After the Ist Julv 'text, no Jew will be anoxia to trade n ithout -a patent, renew ahl,. annually. This patent the Prefect, are not to grant to any in dividual, until he produces a certificate of his character. te?ti fying that he is no usurer. No Jew not actually domiciliatc,i in the Departments of the Upper and Lower Rhine, can he ad mitted to a domicile there. In the other Departments the Jeo cannot be allowed to settle, except upon the eoadition of their purchasing rural property, and abandoning commerce. The Emperor may, however, grant to individuals exceptions from this law. The Jews of the Conscription are required to per form personal service„ and are not allowed to find substitute. These regulations are to be continued only during ten years, is the hope that after that period there will be no difference be tween the moral character of the Jews and other Citizens of the Empire. If the contrary should appear, the law sill be con ! tinned in force. • _ . The Jews of Bourdeaux, of the Gironde, and the Lando, having given no cause for complaint, arc not made subject to the above regulations. 'MA Atli Vt—Tite Official Journal of this day contain. thf. Declaration of Russia and of Denmark against Sweden: and also the Proclamation issued by General Bust hoyden, on his entrance into Finland. This last is preceded by an article from Stock holm, in which an account is thus communicated of the impri sonment of M. Alupeus, the Russian Ltivos - . Is was on the stit instaut that we had the pain to witness the Mission Minister, M. Alopcus, taken into custody. The fol lowing is AU account of the manner in which that Arainfe took place :—That day, at two o'clock in the morning, Rawl de Rove, the King's Aid-de-Camp, was announced to M. .llo peus, and made known to that. Minister that he had receised orders to arrest him, and to seal up his papers, and those of hit mission. As was natural, the sliuister protested agaimt this treatment, and wished to oppose it, when some officers, with a numerous detachment of the body guards, made their appear ance, and obliged him to submit. All persons employed mulct the Russian Lnibassy were roused from their beds, and those in the city were searched out, awl a guard set over their rc•i deuce. A Lieutenant of the body guards was made respomible for the person of the Minister, and four subaltern officers uer ordered to euard those employed by him, sentinels being phc" at the door of the house. Madarne Alopeus was offered the choice, either of leasing her house, and going to iiro io the city, or of submitting and remaining with those is hoo art confined. Tile following iA the Note IN bleb, under titer circurnzrine," rto• Swedi;ll Minkter for Foreign .1)1All • transmitted to A!opetts:•-• • 1 • " NIL; L't ,. .io , t ri‘crived infitrination that a 'l.ll"i3c ." . " 1 , vtlt..t•e o fi:lo;•1. ;art Itio a ~MI~