The National Register. — London, England, 1815-11-12 00:00:00

NOV. 19.. • - THE NA' " gets the money for its duty." But of what avail is it, if it is got at the expence of an individual, thus rendered unable to proceed in his avocations, and of course corn. pelted to shorten his supply to Government in some other shape ? But, to the accurate reflector, this horrible system opens but a gloomy prospect for the future. Our artists are driven to foreign countries. This idand, which, of right, ought to be the exclusive magazine for British literature, is about to be deprived of a most lucrative branch of trade. The French are at this moment hard at work, to expel the British bookseller from the Continental and American markets. The excessive price of paper, printing, &c. in Great Britain, will give them a most decided advantage, if not a complete victory, in this contest. Of the practical effects of this system, even in its in cipient state, an idea may be formed by the following advertisement s copied from a Paris paper:— No. 18, rue Vivienne. The Lousiad, 2 numbers, 2 fr. Elfrida, by Hr. Ma•on,—lnkle and Yariko, t numbers, 2 fr. Characters from Hume, grnollet, Clarendon, etc. etc. with the Life of Hume, 2 numberft, g fr. Characters of Fox, Horne Tooke, Erskine, Jefferson, etc. 2 num bers, 2 fr. A Discourse on Writing, by Usher, characters by Chesterfield, etc. 1 fr. Characters of the Right Hun. W. Pitt and R. B. Sheridan, etc. 1 fr. • A Dissertation on Lontronge in general, more particularly nn the Beauties and Defects of the English Language, with Remarks nn the Rise and Progress of the latter, and a short Account of the earliest Pets, and the Ancient State of the British Stage, 1. fr. Essays on the intellectual Powers, Moral Sentiments, Happiness and National Felicity, by Adam Ferguson, I fr. Odes, Epistles, etc. by Wolcott, called Peter Pindar, with a Sketch of his Life, 1 fr. Rural Tales, Ballads and Songs, by the same. 1 fr. Milton's select Poems, coutaining—Comus, l'Allegro, U Penseroso, Lycidas, etc. 1 fr. The Paradise of Taste, with other Poems, by A. Thompson, Esq. I franc. Art of Pre- Douglas, a traredy, by Mr. Home, 1 fr. Poems, by J. Armstrogg, M. D. containing, serving Health, with the Author's Life, etc. 1 fr. Poems, by Collins and Gay, 1 fr. Poems, by Nathaniel Cotton, with the Author's Life, 1 fr. How far this is to proceed, it is not for me to say ; but if the Government of this ,country does not lessen its duties, the whole of our own West Indies, the United States, awl our North Americaucolonies, will be supplied from Paris. In this event, how is the labour of the people em ployed in printing, &c. &c. to be appropriated ? Are the artists to be left to starve ? This, then, is our prese4t system of,tantion upon impost is laid upon capita) ) sik as to absorb a 1iaft.10,4 4 6.;;1N. , ~► • ~I y X 23 four-fold quantity, and finally, it is met with such d cided restrictions as to prevent publication altogether. Let any one calmly reflect on these circumstances, and, whatever may be the amount received by Govern. ment, all of it beyond a certain sum is a loss to the State: of this there is a most glaring proof in the last tax 03 newspapers. Their circulation has been contracted, — Government may obtain the same sUrn, but if it does, it is at the expence of individuals that it throws out of ern ployment) and thus renders them unproducti►e of benefit to the State. ." In my next, I will allude to the effects of the recent regulation on the subject of 13ritish wines. In the mean time, I am, &c. An Advocate for the Property Tax, And Author of strong Rea - sons for its Continuance. irr Should Arehiteetiis fed himself inclined, his leaving his ad dress would be esteemed a favour. maw • RECENT EVENTS IN FRANCE. Miss Helen Mat is Williams has published an account of events in France during the last reign of Buonaparte, which contains among other partiCulars the following: " All hopes of external alliance has now vanished ; and Austria, instead. of coming to Napoleon's aid, as he had pi e tended, having crushed- his brother-in-law, who was arrive in his cause, he was left to his own resources and to his allies the military, and the sans-culotterie or canaille of Paris. Since the appearance of his constitutions, the fervOur of this last body of active citizens bad, however, been considerably abated.—Some. who considered him as an apostate from the faith, were become very lukewarm in their alliance; others , as subsidies had Ceaged, mis-spent their time no longer its vociferation. This turbulent class did not return to their accustomed labour, for all workshops were shut up, as all commerce was at an mi. Their residence in Paris was dangerous, and required the strict surveillance of the national guard. A few were engaged by the Government to waft- at the fortifications round Paris, •and others eiigage t!".stlvcs as members of the Corps Francs, to guard the country round the : metropolis. " The Corps Francs were organised bands of volunteers , hired by some chief, commissioned by the police. They bad been instituted in the last •campaign to protect the rural communes of the departments round Paris from pillage by'the scattered Russian Cossacks. 'The daily papers were filkd with doleful accounts of depredations committed by these northern barbarians. All the horrors of war were poured on the johabitants, and files of municipal certificates were pub lished with the intention of rousing the citizens of Paris to resistance, lest such also shOuld be their fate. "This Part of the business was ill managed, for it was proved that no Russian Cossicks had entered these depart ments; and that all these horrors bad been committed by the volunteers of the Corps Francs, or, as they were called, the Cossacks of the Fauxbourgs St. Antoine and St. Marceau, who had assumed the costume of the Russian Cossacks. " It was still thought expedient to keep up the sembla t oce `of concord and popularity at the Thuilicries, although the , Conned Chamber WO often the gene of bitieoCst contention. • " 1_ e