The National Register. — London, England, 1815-02-05 00:00:00

FEB. 5. !hock will ht. great, and must be severely felt. But we do not despond, if the resources of the country are but utieri - 41 to develOpe themselves ; if the talents of its sub ject.; are called forth ; if the hearts of the people are but united in pursuit of the national good. Should stpch be the case—should we avail ourselves of the improve ments of modern art, and the experience of the last event ful twenty years, we have only to will lt, to be a gredt, to b? a free, and to he a happy nation. Since writing the above, we, find that the.parties in the great contest in which thk: question of starvation is to be tlecided, have taken their stand. The party advocating the measure is happy ,to find that the o7inion of Mr. Malthus sanctions the idea of a restric tion on importation. We are bound to respect the opi nions of this learned, intelligent, and ingenious writer ; but, ou this occasion, we must beg leave to withhold.our approbation. We do, it under the idea, that there arc general principles that no ingenuity can alter, no sophistry invalidate, and the overthrow of which would endanger the safety and disturb the peace of the state. But it seems that on this occasion there is to be an union of interests. The great body of landholders, headed by those gentlemen from Ireland and England,"• more gener ally found in the ranks of opposition, have formed them selves into a phalanx, which, aided, as it is said, by the . Government, they think will prove equal to that of Ma cedon. Indeed so confident of success are these gentlemen, tint the coffee-house politicians have procured the name of the member, who is to introduce the measure into the I.Nislature ; and the prices at which importation is to be restricted. So that the people of Great . Britain have t?. l wait but a few days (for we understand it is to be one OC the first measures of Parliament) to learn the result of this combination of movement in the various parties of the State. It is possible, nay we fear we may say, that it is pro!. bable the measure will be carried, unless there. be such an expression . of the popular feeling as during the course of the last year arrested its course. We deprecate it as the fertile 'source of mischief—it violates the.true principles of political economy—it touches the re.elings of the people in the tenderest point—it cannot pveu be iscussed ithout the reputation of its advocates being hazarded—it cannot be carried into .etrect without the utmost danger to the peace and happiness of the State. There is nothing around us that calls. for sue,h a discus sion at this moment. On the other hand, there is much to make it imprudent *nd dangerous. We are compelled to abandon a fruitful source of supply to our revenue. The Sinking Fund,which its great founder intended should he guarded as vigilantly as the sacred lire of antiquity, is, it seems, to be again invaded, and we are to look forward to no relief from a pressure of debt, the magnitude of pith, without. the aid of this ineqimable fund, must alarm'the most sanguine ; but which, aided by its benefi cial influence, would prove, itself easy, very easy, to be borne. This is our prospect,. with a rival before us unen cumbered with debt,. her subjects unfettered by injudici ous imposts, her raw commodities unclogged with almost prohibitory duties; and yet with this prospect, the people of Great Britain are to learn, that there is to be no reduction in the prices of the necessaries of life, and that this measure is to be trade an act of their ewe, Ms itis to erilinate with their representatives. • . • do As to the arguments to be used on this occasion, not know whether much novelty, or merely unfounded alarm, and that alarm - excited by self interest, is to be ex pected. But we trust we shall not hear of the diabolivat doctrine attempted to be enforced last S€ssion of Parlia ment, " that labouring people perform more work when corn is dear than when it is cheap." " There is no coubt, observes Mr. Naismith, " that the powerful call of pa rental z,ffection will,. in times of dearth, force the parents of a number of helpless children to make uncommon ex ertions to stilt tha clamour of hunger in their families but such exertions, if long continued, must produce dis eases, premature old akr, and depression of mind in the parents, and a total neglect of proper education among the rising generation. Humanity shudders to think that it should he the desire of people in the higher ranks to reduce their inferiors to such a miserable situation." Take physic. pomp, Expose thyself to feel ►chat wretches feel. That thou may':-t shake the supet flux to them, Aud show the Heavens more just.—lit N G LEtR. E NATIONAL REGIS' PARIS PAPERS. French Papers were received yesterday to the. Ist instant. Prussia insists with undiminished Vigour in a flesh note upon the uniost of all °Saxony, and demands that that point shall be the first arranged. Austria will not consent to the union of all Saxony, but merely of a part. The King of Saxony will not consent to cede any. Poland, which seemed to be a much more difficult_ point than Saxony, , is said to have beets ' disposed of in the foll Owing manner :—The Duchy of Warsaw • to . .be preserved, with a population of 2,100,000' inhabitantg. A - portion containing 500,000 souls in WeStern Poland to be •leVtached in favourof Prussia, to facilitate the communications ' - new Marche with Silesia. The rest of the ))uchy of Warsaw to form an independent Duchy between the Grand. Duchy of-Warsaw, Prussia and Austria. The Kingol Saxony has' been -spoken of as the Sovereign of this ))achy. Another 'projrt offers Bonn and 700,000 souls to the King. A new subject of difference is said to have started up. Bavaria will not restore Salzbourg to Austria, because Prussia 'demands - from-Bavaria the restitution of I.lareuth and Anspach. The- Duke of Wellington passed through Strasburg on the 07th ult. ; lie crossed the Rhine forthwith in order to reach Vktina as soon as possible. Sonic time ago a divorce between Buonaparte and the Archduchess Matta Louisa was . s pol,en o f ; b u t ditfi cu i t l.. v are said to have ai isen : I.lnonapas te will not cons:nt to the divorce. • The Royal Almanack of France has just made i:s appear ance; and it begins with enumerating the Members of tbo House of Bourbon in Fiance, Spain, and Sicily. It styles the King of Sicily, K lug of.the Two Siplies ; and uuder the head of Sweden and Norway, places after the King and Queen, ('hat les John, Pi ince Royal, elected by the Statei of the Kingdom ; Eugenie, Princess 'Royal, aid their son, Francois Joseph Oscar, son of the Prince Royal, I)uke of Sudermania. The Vienna article attempts to represent the Italian con spiracy as of less importance than it was at first supposed to be. There is no doubt, however, that it was a very exten sive one. On Sundav, Paris Papers were received to the .27th inst. Letters from Vienna to to the I.sth also reached town'on Saturday; and from both these sources there at length;ap pears a probability of a pacific termination to the negocia firms in Corwrec , , One Fiench Paper a'AFIIS positively that ~~ I ' "4 4MW P