The National Register. — London, England, 1820-02-20 00:00:00

ON THE RIGHT OF ELECTION. FROM THE NORWICH COURIER. HONOURED as we have been by so large a por tion of the rank, wealth, talent, and respectability of this great and opulent county, we should ill dis charge our duty in return for such independent, and truly flattering patronage, if we did not at the pre sent crisis, when a dissolution of Parliament is so near at hand, raise a warning voice to the free and independent Electors of Norfolk, as to the choice of their future Representatives, for on the selection, which they are about to make, public observation will dwell with no indifferent gaze, as it has long been very generally acknowledged, that the County of Norfolk is the strong fort of Constitutional liberty. The abettors and minions of corruption would bail the fall of this bulwark of freedom with vile and unhallowed applause. But there are even among Tories, in many parts of the United Empire, men of sensibility and comprehension, men of deep re flection and extensive information, who regard the County of Norfolk, as the peculiar seed-plot of W higgism, and who, conscious of the important ad vantages to be derived from an antagonising princi ple in Government, look upon this county as one of the great mounds for arresting the progress of des potism ;—such men have not hesitated to declare their wishes, to see the head of one ancient Whig family restored to those proud representative honours, which his ancestor so recently enjoyed, and which are so justly and gratefully appreciated by our pre sent Representative, as being far superior to any titles Kings or Princes can bestow. f the animating principle be not fled, the inde pendence conferred by great wealth must render the possessor a fur more eligible representative of this opulent. county, than a person who, with inconsi erable means, appears to posses not that sufficientd firmness of character, to resist the smiles and seduc tions of that mighty conjurer, Lord Castlereagh. But not to dwell longer on these preliminary qualifications, let us briefly review the parliamentary conduct of our present Representatives, and then come to those conclusions so indispensible for Electors to draw previous to a dissolution of Parliament. Our political opponent is acknowledged to be a man of amiable manners, and of unexceptionable inte grity, in private life—illa se jade! in auta—but if we look upon hi►n as describing a larger circle in his parliamentary orbit, we shall perceive more super ficies, but no solidity. His first fruits were visible in his support of Suspension, Gagging, and Indem nity Bills; and one of his first political acts was, to set aside that Trial by Jury, to which he has since professed so inconsistent an attachment. His vote in this respect is quite at variance with all the solemn mockery displayed at a county meeting. In the new Parliament some vainly imagined he would turn over a new leaf, be no longer led captive by the courtesy of Lord Castlereagh, cut Bragge Bathurst, and cease to be a chorus-laugher at the unfeeling jests of Canning ; we still however find him fighting in the ranks of this memorable trio ; we still find him swelling the plaudits, with which the many rend the skies, when they alternately sip the oil and vinegar of Castlereagh and Canning ; we find him dozing amid the drowsy effusions of Bragge Bathurst, or bewildered in the confusion worse confounded of Vansittart. In the first Session of the new Parliament we find him voting fur a grant of 10,0001. a year to the Duke of York, for performing the instinctive duties of a son—duties which derive all their grace from being unbought. In the next place, we would direct the attention of his friends, as well as of his adversaries, to the con duct of the Ministerial Representative of this county in respect to the Catholic question ; it is confidently believed that he had professed himself favourable to Catholic Emancipation previously to his admission to the Senate; but finding himself in a dilemma,. from the strong prejudices of his Clerical adherents on the one hand, and his aversion to offend.the Catholics on the other, he took a diagonal line, , and paired off ! ! Lastly, we come to the Mancliester•T y, sad here we would willingly c l o se th e book r l e a d ccount, in which the transactions of the ltith of August are. inscribed in characters of blood— " Lest the morn behold so foul a sight As would blanch forever her rosy light."' Suffice it to say, that this inamorato of Ministers voted against all inquiry into these horrid transac tions, and thus effectually precluded them from ever reaching the vaunted land of promise, where the Trial by Jury was to redress all grievance, and fur nish u panacea fur all disorders. The matter was (it was said) in a course of investigation, but Lord Castlereagh raised his draw-bridges, and the Whigs were excluded from all scrutiny and discussion, and the nation from all explanation and satisfaction on the subject. That this ministerial enthusiast should support the late Bills which followed as corollaries on the heels of the Manchester tragedy is quite natural and consistent ; but it behoves this great and opus THE NAFIONAL REGISTER:. lent county most seriously to consider how far such a man fills with adequate dignity and independence the place of a Senator,—how far he is qualified for itting in the House of Commons, except it be to applaud the specious verbosity of Castlereagh, to lacquey the insignificance of Bragge Bathurst, and to assist at the apotheosis of that trite joker, George Canning. Finally we would nsk, in what instance has our senatorial adversary deviated into one vote favourable to the liberties of the people ? In how many instances has he not supported all those despo tic measures, which have since his admission to Parliament emanated. front Ministers ?- He will shortly have to return the trust into the hands of his constituents—let them judge of him by his deeds. To us it appean; that the tendency of his parliamentary career has been most adverse to con stitutional freedom, whilst as an individual, he has in no one instance elevated himself above the com mon herd by acuteness of remark, by brilliancy of talent, or by that invincible steadiness of character, which distinguishes his political opponent. Cuneows SaltaTsotris.—The first of this month, a pain ter at Marseilles exposed in front of his house a picture • of the facade of a prison In the windows of the edi fice, behiuddrost hem, appeared several miniature por traits. with this 'ascription written underneath—Pntson• IRO won Dawr.. The portraits were those of young ;nett well known.inalie above city, who had omitted to pay the painter,. ander pretence that they had not been pain ted according to their taste. The parties and their friends endeavoured to make a disturbance before the door of the artist, boss lie sneceeded in appeasing them, saying his intention was only to make the public acknowledge the resemblance, and induce them fu pay him for I is work, By this stratagem he obtained his money, and the young men carried away thew portraits. A shocking accident ocearred near Kendal; lately Mr. T. Grainger, shopman to Mr. Bradley, a draper, of Ken -4121, and Mr. E. Thoinlintoo, an apprentice with Mr. 'Thompson, a grocer, went out each with a gun fur a lit tle recreation. When about two miles from Kendal, Mr. Grainger got over a liedga, and turning about, said to his companion, "take care how you get over this hedge ; " and while Thonilinson was in the act of getting user, his gun, which was half - corked, went off, and the whole of the contents lodged in Mr. Grainger's anal,. He was immediately carried to the t house, and a Stur geon attended, who pronounced the wound incurable without amputation ; but before any thing could be done, the unfortunate sufferer lust his realm'', and he died that night. He was twenty-threeyeans of age. Two English gentlemen, some time ago, visited the field of Bannockburn, so celebrated for the defeat of Edward's army. A sensible countryman pointed out to theta the positions of the hostile nations—the stout where Bruce's standard was fixed during the battle, Ste. Highly pleased with his attention, the gentlemen on leaving hint, pressed his acceptance of a crown-piece. " Na, na," said the hottest man, rewriting the money, " keep your crown-piece, the English have paid dear eneugh already for seeing the field of Bannockburn," it is rumoured that Mr. Young, the celebrated Tra gedian, Mr. Johnstone, better know' by the appellation tit' Jack Johnstone, with Mr. Phillips, of vocal cele brity, have proposed for the patent, to open the Theatre in I)ublin jointly, alter the interment of our late beloved Sovereign. On 1 uesday last a hearing took place before a nume rous bench of Magistrates at Leeds, on an information lodged against Nathan Taylor, a poor infirm old man, late a musician in the Leeds Volunteers, and now re siding in a cottage at Swinegate, for selling imitation coffee, contrary to the statute of 43d George 111. cap. 129. The circumstances of the case, as stated to the Court, were shortly these:—lii the mouth of Not em ber last an officer of Excise, employed fur the purpose, called at Taylor's house, and asked if they sold, " Hoe ortner's co tree)" to winch his wife replied, that they had nu coffee for sa!e, but they sold peas.. He thou en quired the price, and said that he was a shopkeeper at Dewsbury, and should want two or three hundred weight. This was, however, a quantity too large for Taylor's dealings; but lie was told that if he would call again they would let him have half a stone. On this occasion a converaation took place, on which Mrs. Taylor observed, that if the powder was boiled in soft water, it would make " good coffee." In the morning, ' about eleveis o'clock, the informer came again, and while he was preparing to pay Isis lour shillings foralus eight pounds of breakfast betwage, .two other Excise °lions entered and seized. and castled away 'Taylor's whole stock in trade, which consisted of one.poutal of-roasted peas, in addition to the eight pounds prepared for this wholesale customer. The magistrates having heard all the circurustances, of the case, convicted the vendor, but mitigated the penalty front tool. to fifty shillings.. FEMALe Couttatie.—The Gazette of Augsburg • gives a singular account of presence of. mind .in the daughter of a gamekeeper, .residing in a solitary house at Weillienn. Her father and the rest of the family hail gone to chuclu, .when there appeared at the door au old man apparently half dead with cold. Perlin for his situation, she let him in, and went into the kitchen to prepare him some soup. Through a wiudow which communicated from the room she had left hint in with the kitchen, she perceived he had dropped the beard he , had on when he entered ; that be ilowaiipeared a robust man : and that he was pacing the enamber with a poignard iii his hand. Finding no mode of escape, she armed herself with a chopper in one hand, . and the boiling soup iu the other, and entering the room where he was, first threw the soup in his lace, and alter Wardll srruck hum a blow out the neck with the hatchet which deprived hem of sense. At this nwuucu,t a fresh knock at the door oce.e.toned her to Ithik tint of an upper window, when she saw a sitallite iiiiii:tr, who demanded admittance, and, on her refusal, threatened to bleak ,open the does she immediately got her fathers gun, 63 and, as he was proceeding to put his threat into execu tion, she shot him through the right shoulder, on which he took to the forest. Half an hour alter, a third per son came and asked after an old man who must hare passed that way. She said she knew nothing of him ; and after useless menaces, if she did not open the (lOW, he also proceeded to beat it in, when she shot , him dead on the spot. The excitement of her courage being at an end, her spirits began to sink, and she fired shots and screamed from the window, until some gend'arisies came to her ; bet she would not open the door until the return of her father. Mitchell, against whom a bill of indictment was found at the last Wakefield Sessions, was arrested at' Liverpool on Friday last, by virtue of a warrant from Thomas Horton, Esq. issued in coosequence of a certi ficate from Mr. Foljambe, the Deputy Clerk of the Peace. On Saturday, he was brought before the Magis trates at lialifax, and in default of bail, %vas committed to take his trial for sedition, at the next Pontefract Sessions. Up to a late hour oil Saturday night, he had not procured bail ; and it was intemled to convey horn the following morning to the iiolise of Correction. bail required, was himself in IOu!. and two sureties in 501. each. 0.3 'Monday morning, about four o'clock, the walls of a house at the end of Strand Street, Liverpool, wl.ielt was burnt &wit three years ago, idl down, and burst through the floor of one of the back cellars, which, strange to tell, had, notwithstanding the dangerous situation of the overhanging fragments of the building, been occupied as a place to lodge in ; five turn were sleeping in two beds, all of whom, we are sorry so relate, were killed. There were several other people in the front cellar at the same time, who escaped with• their liver, though some of thens,.we understood, are severely wounded. We believe tlte• tenanse •of this wretched hovel had notice to quit some .months ago, but the temptation oL li%i og rent-tree, and carrying on a petty trade in cooking and letting their lodgings, prin cipally to Irish labourers, proved tun strong an induce ment to he resistrd,and the fatal consequeinees have been as above related.. SVlClDC—Saturday evening, a young: woman, servant-of all-work in a gentleman's family, in Coleman-street, having some dispute with the cook, on which account she was threatened to be discharged, went and hung herself from the bannis ters of the stairs, in which situation she was found shortly after by one of the men servants, who cut her down. A surgeon was sent fur, who bled her ; she showed some signs of life for a time, but it was only of a short duration, for in spite of all medical assistance, she expired. Last Thursday a young Lady, resident in Rich• mond-buildings, Dean -street, Soho, having occasion to go into St. Anne's -court, about nine o'clock, was rudely accosted by a tall man ; receiving no answer, he aimed a weapon at her breast, which, fortunate. ly, the thickness of her spencer prevented from making a deep wound; he then run away with tne utmost speed, and is no doubt the monster MI6 h.ts been lately about the New Road. DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE FANCY. RODENI"BURNS AND JPRINO —The renewed match for Ito guineas aside, which WJ• to has taken place on Friday on . Sutton. or Eps ttttt Downs, .and which had been pin off: before itr. coissequencerill a late mournful occasion, is now off altogether.. A letter was received in town. on Tnuraday morning, and forwarded to Mr. Jackson, stating, that Spring had been suddenly taken ill with a violent swollen, head and body, and that it was impossible he could fight. Indeed his case was considered dangerous. His backers williorleit the 100 guineas. It was necessary for. Barns to appear on , the spot, on Epsom Downs,appointrcl by the Field Marshal, on Fri day, to claim tlieltnidred guineas, but few persons were - present, as it was known, by the orders issued by the " Gonunissariat," nu the preceding day, that the P C. ropes and stakes were not wanted. rise fact is, Spring floored himself by his indiscreet conduct, and as he had . no chance of winning the stake, it would not do to give away the chance of losing his friends money.. Burn threw his hat into the ring at twelve o'clock, and waited until one, but his antagonist mid not appear. Bob,, in imitation of other: great men, made a speech, and told those present that on Tuesday next he would fight any 111.111 in England in the rang after Belasco and the Broutinigem youth, barring Larkins, who was his intimatc.friend, not imitating the example of Ben and Johuson, when the former challenged because they were friends. However, those who were present may be ; supposed to have been half bred at least, and they COllSe. fille.itly stood their bud l'or a mill, after a sixteen miles journey. and Captain Kelly, produced a Carshalion Irishman, named Toney Cary, to fight any oilier ruffian about his weight, and he was pitied against Abbot, who beat Dolly Smith.--Itichuhand seconded Abbot, rod Larkins the Paddy. It was a gall:l:Alight of an hour and ten minutes, and was won. by Abbot. It wood be uninteresting to enter into the.details ()frowners, floorings, bistiockings,&c. of persons so little known in the prize ring; but it is jns lice to both to say that They belwird like men. The first round in particular was most admirably con tested, and even to the last there-was 410 want a iho , rough breeding. Ant gii the stakes are forfeited to Burn, yet bets are not, only as far as regards play or pay. A few days since a, sparrow-hawk LAY through a strong plate glass window of the Library at Hard wick House, near Bury, and is now alive without having antlered any apparent injury.—Small birds have been frequently found dead under the mobs window.