The National Register. — London, England, 1817-02-10 00:00:00

Ft TIRUARY 10. thee, endue all the cii etinistaneel, the douse would entertain the idea that they were not to look into the estahlishinetits— the expenditure of the double court of iv iudsor and Carleton baaae, with all the extra grooms and lords of the bed. chamber. --(Hear.)—Fur his own part, in wishing fat examination, lie did not de-ore to take away any thine fruit] the real splendour and dignity of the Crown: hut if none of these offices were abolished, there would arise a questiim as to the propriatv of such officers holding their sesta in that he attempted to call on the Hinse to do mai. that they would that night support a proposition for the apposetmeut of such a committee as the public circumstances required, and as the comitry denied, nod a right to expert.- -( Mara The Cne AYCELLOK of the ENCIIF.Qt;r.It made several obser vations um the speeeli of the last fiouioni ably Gentleman. Mr. BROLIGH NAI COllrriVril, that what the public wanted was the reduction of an enormous expenditure. This was a cry not to be smothered; it was a want nut to In- disappointed. His only objection to a committee, appointed fur such a !im pose was, lest it saould be appointed for a puraose too gene ral and undefined, instead of being what he ahotild wish to met it, limited to lie consoler - 41'km of a s uecitic question. But it now appeared, that the great end of this new measure was not to shew how far retrenchment might be effected, but hoe entreat es might be preserved; not how enormous salaries 'Mato lie reduiced, but how the existing government ni;alit maintain its ground. lie deemed it to be the dots , of a good I subject to sampott the government under which he lived in all times, and especially in tittle,' of difficulty and &weer; but it was a duty to be regulated by urgent necessity, and by the most pressing interests of the country. Mr. CANNING cuougratidated the House on the very satin factory statement winch had been made by the Noble Lund : and eontended, in opposition to the Hu iiiiii rable and Learned Gentleman, that Ministers, so far from being reluctant to adopt measures of economy, had made as many reductions as were consistent with the public interests. Mr. WI LIII.IIFOKCE, after the best consideration of the sub. jeet, could not give au entire approbation to the appointment of the committee. Lord I.tscrat.as had heard with great satisfaction the statement made by his Majesty 'a Ministers ; and though there was a proverb, that concession might be the parent of de mand, vet he believed, with respect to a very great hulk of the cumutry, that the eonces.sion made to-night would be par ticularly gratifying, and be most tlnui k fully received. Mr. PONSONDY said that on the score of reduction. the noble lord had stated what had given him peat satisfaction ; and though he thought the reduction ought to have been made sooner, yet he was more ready to thank the noble lord for coming to it now titan to reproach him for having neglected it before. He approved of the resolution of his Majesty's servants to abate a 'tartlet' of their salaries; they owed it to the country ; but lie would go farther, and sac, that there was no iudi+idual whatever receiving a salory that ought not to be willing to reduce it. lie spoke this as an interested per son, and lie thought the reduction proposed was not sufficient fur his own part, he was ready to go farther. (Hear, hear. hear). To be sure, the private means of others might net enable them to go so far in this way as his own happily en aided him ; nor did he think that any thing he could coon I bate would be sensibly felt as a diminution of the great pub lic burden : but if he were followed by others.he was certain something might be dune to alleviate the pressure of that burden. A d:vision then took place upon the original question when the nitinbei a were—Ayes, 210—Noes, 117.--Majority for Ministers, 03. A second division subsequently took place, after a good deal of conversation, which we were nun aolc to heir on ac count of the exclusion of strangers from the gallery, upon the question, whether Lord Binning or Mr. Tremayne be ap pointed un the committee, The numbers were • - Ayes, for Lord Binning, 1/3—Noes, for Mr. 'lremayire, 136—Majority for Ministers, 42. A third division occurred on the question, whether Mr. iiuskis-on or Mr. Tremayne be elected to form one of the committee. numbers were—Ayes, for Mr. thiskinson,lBo—Noes, for Mr. l'remayne, 129 +iajority for Oinistu•rs, 51. The house then, at hint* past one o'clock, adjourned. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. LON DON : MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10,1817. NO intelligence of much interest has arrived from the continent during this week. The French papers of Tuesday are almost filled with a long speech of Baron PlisoutEn, with which that of introduce a plan of law on the responsibility of Ministers. The principal feature of this law is, that the Chamber may impeach Ministers for treason, and for a crime which is called concussion. Treason includes all attempts to subvert the Crown, or the Government, or the order of succession. Concussion is explained to mean tyran nous exercise of authority or bribery, direct or indirect. The speech is elaborate and full of leg-al argument. Baron PASQUIER is a lawyer : he holds the office of Keeper of the Seals. At home, however, the scene has been extremely busy and interesting. It will be seen by oar Parliamentary Reports that the Prince Regent has spontaneously proposed to give up out of his personal income the sum of 46'39 000 towards alleviat ing the public burthens. This is an act worthy of a Sovereign not so much from the amount of the sum, as because it identities the Prince with his proves that he is penetrated with their suffering's, and that all he can do to lighten and remove them, he is anxious to effect. The Ministers also give up for the sant.: purpose a prop:n.6°ll of their respective sti pends, (vat to 10 per cent. and their example was instantly foliowed by Mr. l'onsoby, who rose in his place on Friday evening,and declared his determination of relinquishing a considerable portion of his pension. The pension which this Right Honourable Gentle man enjoys, it will be remembered was conferred urn THE NATIONAL REGISTER. hint as a emnpensation for giving up his practice at the Bar, when he was appointed Lord ChaneMor of Ireland. It cannot be contemplated as a sinecure, because he gave an equivalent fur it. We hope that as the work of retrenchment has begun in such high quarters, and under such illustrious auspices, it will continue its pro gress through all the departments of the state. We trust that under the present circumstances of the country, the Ministers will not hesitate to cut off completely front the public list all sinecure offices, and 'unmerited pen sions. Without this operation the financial system of the Empire will still remain diseased and ruinous, and we are certain that the community will cheerfully bear the burthens imposed upon them, if they feel that none of them are unnecessary. THE CITY, TWELVE O'OLOCK, SATURDAY. The funds continue to fluctuate : Consols for account opened at 653. The late extensive !peculators wished to realise the large profits that had accrued by the late ' advance ; Consols in consequence declined to 64; ; at I'2, o'clock they had again attained 651, and scarcely any person would venture to become what they technically term hears, from the great reductions in the establish ments, and the peculiarly flivourable reports of the Fi nances. No persons would venture to make sales, so ge neral was the impression that a great advance must im mediately take place. The city was surprised on Wednesday by a sudden and great improvement in the value of Bank Stock.— Th 2 rise was not not less than five per cent : the cause of it is only matter of conjecture, though we should suppose conjecture in this instance to be so probable as to comenear certainty. Pecuniary arrangementsbetween the Bank and the Ministers are said, or believed, to have taken place: and the contract is no doubt to be considered as beneficial to the Bank, by the increased value of its stock. The improvement goes on with even accelerated mo tion. This particular Stock, which opened at 226 Wed nesday morning, left off en Thursday at 238 ; the sum total of the rise being no less than 12 per cent. Pecuniary arrangements have, without a doubt, taken place, or it is formally understotxl will take place, between the Bank and Government. When the deficit in the revenue was announced some weeks ago, it was suggested, that an advance from the Bank might this year, as well as last, be among the items of temporary revenue. Its first visible effect, is this wonderful rise in Bank Stock: while the general result upon the nation is, that the financial ditacultics will be kcpt from tumbling down upon us this year, without any attempt to impose fresh taxes, and without tuaching the Sinking Fund_ In order to let the proprietors also of Bank Stock taste more sensibly the existing good, the Directors it is said intend to pro pose another bonus to them. T;o: King of Denmark has acceeded to the H Alliance. _ _ _ The States General at Brussels have finally rejected the proposition prohibiting the exportation of grain. The French journals, quoting those of Germany, state, that " the Duke of Kent, brother to the Prince Regent, is about to marry the Princess Maria Victoire of Saxe-Cobourg, Princess Dowager of Linarges, and eldest sister of - Prince Leopold, the husband - of the Princess Charlotte of Wales. The Princess Mary was born on the 17th of August, 1786: the Duke of Kent, on the Yd of November, 1767." A very eur:ous (rscovery bas been made at Rome, within a fe:: hys, of papers belonging to the Stuart Xamily. The Govern:pent has ordered them to be sea'ed up, and we Liar it is intended to keep them from the Public for ever They consist of papers, letters, &c. amounting in the whole collection to several hundred thousand. Mary-le-bone new Church was consecrated on Wed nesday by the Bishop of London, in the presence of a great number of persons of the first distinction. The or s an is placed at the back of the altar, and in the centre othe organ is an °p.m arch, in which is place a very fine picture, painted by the l'resident of the ltoyal Aca demy. The subject is the Angel of the Loyd appearing to the Shepherds. The exterior of the Church is very beautiful. LOAN TO THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. So many various and irreconcileable reports have ar rived from Paris on this subject, that we have not very recently taken notice of it. We have reason, however, to believe, that we can now state the precise facts of the transaction. The contractors, on arriving at Paris, thought fit to come to a resolution not to advance money to the French Government, by means of a direct Ic to : but we understand that an arrangement hai been agreed upon with that Givernment in the way of commision. The French Government agrees to tran::a Lc) the seve ral contractors from England, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and in Paris, a sum of 1,000,00ni. in the French funds in order to - gasp se of it in their respective countries to this best advantage, at a certain rate of commission ; and that, if in the course of six mouths the whole shall have been sold, another sum Lo the same amount of French stock shall be transferred to the contractors for a similar purpose. If this plan so far succeeds, the sysfew is to be proceeded in until the whole of the 12 million sterling wanted tire Aka SPA FIELDS MEETING. MONDAY, FEBRUARY FEBRUARY in. This being the day appointed for the holding of the adjourned meeting at Spa-fields, an immense crowd assembled at an early hour. Mr. Ht NT arrived in his tandem at one o'olock, an 1 of course was greeted by the shouts oldie populace. When he got up into the room of the Merlin's Cave, now so celebrated in the annals of Parlia mentary Reform, lie appeared at the window, and moved that Mr. Ctaakr„ " their old Chairman," should take the chair, which was unanimously agreed at. Mr. CLARkE then said, that as this was an adjourned Meeting there was no requisition to be read. lie had to state that the Petition to which they had agreed on theond of December, had been presented in the House of Commons by Lord COCHILANT, and ordered to be laid on the table. (applause) He then said that be had addressed a letter to that noble lord requesting his attendance this day at Spa-fields, to give them an account of the reception of their pe titiomand that h is Lordship returned an answer, stating the irnpossibi lity of his being able to attend, as he hal to be present at a public meet ing held this thy in Hampshire, for the purpose of promoting Par liamentary Reform. (Applause.) Mr. Clarke then said, that he had written a letter to Sir Yranci, Burdett, soliciting his support in the House of Commons, for their Petition ; that Sir Francis, in a verbal reply, which lie gave to the letter, observed he would always support the People, but that he could not support that part of their Petition which prayed for Universal Suffrage. He was ready to extend the elective franchise to all [leaseholders, but farther than this he could not go. The Chairman then stated, that a Gentleman waited this maiming on the lion. Baronet to request his attendance at the pre sent meeting, and that, in answer, he said it would not be convenient for him to comply with this solicitation. Mr. HUNT then addessed the Meeting. He congratulated them upon their numbers—went through the history of the presentation of their Petition, and talked a great deal of his own services in the pub lic cause. He then introduced the subject of the boy Dogood--said that he went to Kensington to solicit one of the Royal Dukes to present the boy's Petition to the House of Lords, and that the Royal Duke, with much politeness, declined the office—that he had then recourse to Earl Thanet, who agreed instantly to present it to the House of Lords, He stated that Lord Follestoae, at the instance of Lady Folkstone, hail front public accounts which he read of the boy's imprisonment, had unsolidted by him, found out the lad, and ofKred not only to pre , • sent tit_ Petition, but to take every method of vindicating his in juries--(applause.)—Mr. Hunt then obaerval, that they were de termined to prosecute the matter, and that some money was requisite on the occasion, he had proposed to his Bristol friends to subscribe a penny each, to which they cordially agreed.—(applause). The crowd then became very clamorous, and after order was restored, we undetstood that they were all anxious to become subscribers to the fund collecting for this purpose. The necessity of putting our Paper to press in time for our numerous country friends ixrupelled us to leave, Mr HUNT still speaking. The multitude assembled amounted to nearly ten thoaatrul, and when we quitted the scene, there was no symptom of disorder. A great number of constables were in attendance. The Resolutions expressed in substance, that the Meeting assem bled fur the purpose of petitioning the House of Commons, against the adoption of any measure which may hare a tendency to abridge the right of petition; and humbly imploring them nut to listen to the calumnies urged against the people: but, on the contrary, to Uford. as far as they are able, the sufferings of a o..tient and starring people immediate relief, by the abolition of all sinecures, and of all pensions and grants. not merited by well-known public services ; by the re duction of :di puulic salaries and founded annuities, in pioportion to the roluetionwhich has taken place. in the wages of labourers, and in the profits of tradesmen; and. above all, by listening, before it be too late, to the humble and earnst prayers of the pzorle fur a rennin in their Honourable House, upon the principles a biTt presented to the Hou,e of Lords by the fare Duke of Bi Irn i d mu a than So years ago, which bill propoesd Annual Parliaments and uni versal suffrage, and elections to be taken by ballot. The remaining rmoltrions were in commendation of the princi ples of the French Revolutio-., expressing also that laws were passed during the administration of Pitt nostile to the right of petition, that whatever pretexts existed at that period to countenance their enact ment, none could be said to exist now that the Bourbons arc agei restored, the people of France being now so sensible of their past errors, and being so happy under their King; all the republics of Europe being annihilated; the Holy Father being re-seated in his chair; and the fires of the inquisition (after having been extinguished by Napol..on) being rekindled, and that when they were culled upon to submit to the suspension of the rights above nicationed, and to expend more than a thousand mil lions in taxes, and eight hundred millions in debt, to carry on tears. they were told, that for those sacrifices they should he amply repaid by a pewee, which would give permanent happiness, " indemnity for the past, and security for the future ;" but that they found that this indemnity consists of the greatest miseries that a nation ever had to endure. Thepetition is merely a counterpart of the reailudons. MI.PORCVPINE COMILTT'S SE NTT mr.xvs ntsecc REvoLuTtoli6.—" According to Monsieur Bossuet, there were about 30,000 persons murdered, in all France, in the massacre of St. Bartholemew ; there has been more than that number murdered in the single city of Lyons, and its neighbourhood; at Nam; there have been 47,000; at Paris, 15,000; in La Vendee,3oo,ooo. In short, it appears that there have been two millions of persons murdered in France, since it has called itself a republic : u:uong whom are reckoned two hundred and fifty thousand women two hualred and fifty children, (besides those murdered in the womb). and twenty-finir thousand Christian priests.—And is there—zan there be, a f:lztion in England—so cruel—so bloody-minded, as to wlslt to see these scares repeated in their own, or any other country' ? If there. be—Great God ! do than mete to them, tenfold the measure they would mete to otaers; alllet on them every cam: et* whidli buanan nature is susceptible ; hurl on the thy reddest thundvibolts; sweep the sanzial. nary race frum the of the earth."