The National Register. — London, England, 1816-06-17 00:00:00

■ TUNE 17., EXCHEQUERS. POLITIC.II. DISQUISITION. CONSOLIMTION Or• THE ENGLISH AN!) IRISH THE consolidation of the two Exchequers of Great Britain and Ireland—a measure rendered necessary by the state of the latter, had hitherto pas.sed through its early stages in the House of Commons, with the full ap probation of all parties. This unanimity was, for the first time, broken on Fri•lay last, in the Committee held on the Bill. It was then discovered by the opposition, that a Vice-Treasurer must be appointed fir Ireland; and, what was still more grievous to them, that his salary would consist of 3;001. a year ; and that, as he would have a seat in Parliament, a Deputy, with 10001. per annum, would perform his duties during his absence. Then arose, in all its former violence, the outcry against corruption ! By such a measure, ancient Acts would be violated; economy set at nought ; and the influence of the Crown extended. The Vice-Treasurer, it was wittily remarked, would have nothing to do ; and his Deputy would receive 10001. a year to assist him. " This was a most infamous and shameless job," exclaimed Mr. Pon sonby, rising for the moment above his usual common place, " and Ministers would not have dared to bring it forward in a full House." As to the daring of Ministers, we shall not contend the point. They certainly displayed much timidity in pressing the revival of the Property- Tax, at the risk of their situations, until they were left in a minority. It was through excess of timidity also, that, having once introduced the new Alien Bill, they carried it through, against the most constant, and the most loquacious opposition,—rejecting, in their way, every clause however reasonable, which might have weak ened the Powers with which they wished to invest them selves. As we have censured them when we thought theta obnoxious to blame, so shall we take their defence, when their conduct is founded in right ; and this instance is one, in which the Opposition never more completely misapplied their activity and their talents. Could it be imagined, that, when the whole financial concerns of a nation, very little inferior in numbers and in importance to our own, should be united to those of Great Britain, the English official Establishment wonld be sufficient to bear the doubled weight of business and responsibility which would thus devolve upon them ? Must not some Officer be appointed to manage that part of the national expenditure which must now flow from the consolidated Exchequer—to nourish and support the neighbouring island? Must not that Officer, entrusted with the issue of millions, be a person of high trust and responsibility ? Could such a person be induced to sacrifice both his tittle and his right to dispose of his own property, us long as he holds that office, for an unworthy consideration ? And can, when all those views of the subject are taken, a salary of 55001. a year be deemed more than barely reasonable? Buta Deputy is to be created t ith a revenue of 10001. per annum ; and, the necessity of this appointment is attributed to the impolicy of giving a seat in Parliament to the Vice-Treasurer, who is thus forced to absent himself from the scat of his active duties in order to attend the house. The answer given to this objection was obvious, and appears well founded. The consolidation of the two Ex chequers being attended with the abolition of most of those offices, which gave the members of the Irish Go vernment seats in Parliament, in order that they should be able to state to the national legislature the wants of Ireland, and the application and erect of the measures adopted to supply them, it is absolutely necessary that some other expounder of Irish necessities and aflitirs should take their place. And who could be a more fit ting person, than the individual through whose hands thb whole expenditure of that country must pass. This appears to us so strong a ground, that we shall not even quote the other forcible reasons which were employed to prove the necessity of the Vice Treasurer being a Par liamentary officer, and justify the appointment of a De puty. The next objections were to the creation of new of and the increase of the patronage of the Crown. To both of these, the most triumphant replies tan be given. First, The office is an old one revived; and secondly, the patronage obtained by the ('rown by the introduction of one member into Parliament, is more than compensated by the abolition of the . follotria ,, eight Pat-hellion:try offices to which the consolidation of the two Exchequers puts an end ; live Lords of the Irish Treasure, the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer, his Secretary, and the Secretary of the Treasury. Such a diminution of patronage, ought in fact to have excited the gratitude of those who profess to consider the in fluence of the Crown as dangerously great, instead of leading them to attempt to conceal the truth unacr a load of abuse and misrepresentation. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. We regret to - find by the thllowiug Letter from the British Consul at St. Petersburgh to Samuel Thornton, 1:411. Governor of the Russia Company, that attendant upon the new Russian Tarn m.un• severe r,:straints have been imposed upx n ► the British Trade:— Nt. gli. April 1e...., (3,fiy Ioj, 1816. " sIR,—.I ha.' the pleasure. of %riling to you oil the 21st Api ii k Alas 3), by pe.ot, and d aftei svillll.4 by 4 cets..ier, With the hes% 'l4l " Its these opportunities I communicated to you, for the in. formation of the Court of .I , tsta Tv's, all the det:oht I eon:i f collert, of this so lone PsileTled : 41111 1 base flow the mortification to acquaint you, that order has c he cn restive d With it at the Custom-honer here, to continue itt force the roles and regulations homed during the unfortunate differences be. tween Great Britain and Russia, and eset since acted upon. though se ith some temporary modifications on one or two points. 1 shall. 011 (Vel'y 011:W41011 in toy punt r, eutliblieisof i/I prm nee either the re peal or suspension of some of. of these regina Lions, *bleb appear Nlll l l are ft•lt to be most prejudicial to the prosecution of that liberal commerce it 14 the wish of his Ma jesty to cstablisli, and I Hatter myself, by the powerful assist ance of his Excelletivey, Lord Cathcart, toy representations may produce the desired effect. In the mean time, I c strongly recommend that all the rules and regulations. and Custom-611 , w lases estalhished by the Taritjof 1011, regarding bills of lading to order, and other points, be tiered to, and that the a xpethene) of so doing be made u speedily known to the trade as possible.—l am, &c. (Signed) " 1). 11.1YLEV." The Emperors of Austria and Russia, and the King of Prussia (it is again asserted ), will meet at Toplitz on the 15th of July. The object is said to relate to some sub ject connected with the Holji Alliance. A letter front Vienna, dated May 25, contains the following agreeable information ;—" By authentic ac counts from Warsaw, we learn, that the whole Russian army which has hitherto been stationed on the frontiers, especially towards Turkey, is dissolved, and that the troops of which it is composed have commenced their march to the remote provinces of the Russian empire." Letters from Vienna, dated the 26th ult. in speaking of the lonian Islands, state, that the Porte has not yet acknowledged the arrangements which placed that country under the protection of England. The Porte also declines, at present, to acknowledge the Ilona! dig nity conferred by the Allies on the House of Orange. The Ministers of the King of Bavaria, it seems, had advised his Majesty to a certain reduction of his Army. He has rejected this counsel ; and it is proposed, on the contrary, to augment the troops of the line to 100,000 men. We have no means, at present, of ascertaining the motives of this policy. A letter from Italy, dated May 20, says, " Two Ec clesiastics have been sent to Rome under an escort, for having circulated dangerous writings ; among others, a false Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, with a Com mentary containing dangerous doctrines hostile to the temporal authority." The Castle of Schoenbnmn. near Vienna, is fitting up for Prince Leopold of the Two Sicilies, who is to be shortly married to the Archduchess Clementine, of Austria. The Prince is the Uncle of his intended Bride. Under date of the Ist of April, we learn front Rio Janeiro the unpleasant intelligence, that the Captain-ge neral of Chili had put under sequestration all the British property in that quarter. Ile has done the same by the Creoles at Buenos Ayres ; between whom, in matters of trade, this officer makes no distinction. The dissection of the Hottentot Venus has just been finished at the Jardin du Roi, in l'aris. This new object of curiosity for the amateurs of natural history, will be placed at the museum of that fine establishment. It is very difficult to obtain permission to see the sta tue by Canova, in the Borghese Palace, at Rome, repre senting the Princess Paulina Borghese naked as Venus. It is counted one of the best works of the Master. A fitreign Lady asking the Princess Paulina how she could resolve to be represented in this manner, received for an. saver "Cal flue la chain/.re etait Lieu chauFe!" (Oh, the room was.well heated !) A few days ago the holders of Omnium petitioned the Bunk of England to postpone the final redemption of the Omnium pledged at the Bank, which was to be redeemed the I'2th of July, to the !4th of the same month. Mr. Hose has, however, given official notice, that the Petition cannot be complied with. The Report of the Select Committee upon the State of Mendicity in the Metropolis has been printed in pur suance of the Order of the House of Commons of the 26th May. It states that mendicity in the streets is much diminished since the investigation of last year, and that, by a strict entbrcement of the existing laws the town might be speedily cleared of Mendicants altogether ; but as that course would only transfer the evil into the country, it recommends, that an establishment be formed on Mr. Martin's plan of inquiry, tier the purpose of dis criminating the meritorious poor front the other classes ; that due diligence be used to send home the Irish, Scotch and African mendicants ; that the Chelsea and Green wich pensioners (a very troublesome class of mendicants) be taken out of the streets, and some other minor regu. lations. An Irish Melody has been written in reply to Mr. Cobbetes attack on Potatoes: the motto to which has been taken from Moore;s— -•• Mar creatures ! we can't do without them." The chorus is •• sweet roots of ! we can't do without thew ; No touvie ran cap t."' ton it impurlaw•e to man. Poor Corporal Cetiliett knows nothing *hoot them. Well boil them and eat them as long 4* we THE ROYAL FAMILY. THE PAINCESS CIIAIILOTTE'S HEALTIL—The wen ther proving favourable, the Princess Cu titho-r.ra role out (ni Saturday and yesterday in a chariot, wrapped up in a warm pelisse. Yesterday she rode by Kensington and Chelsea about two o'clock, for upwards of an hour. Her Royal Highness has, tbr these two days past, coasts down to dinner. T.te general answer to the enquirers yesterday was—lier Royal Highness was much better. Yesterd:iy Prince Leorot,n, as soon as lie hal returned from his morning ride with the Princess CIiARLOTTr, walked lima long time in the Green Park without being recognized by the people. The day for the marriage of the Princess Mary and his Highness the I)ake of Gloucester, is nually fixed for Tuesday the :25th inst. The Duke of Cambridge is shortly expezted in Eng land. Tuesday, her Majesty, Princesses Augusta, Elizabeth, and Mary left Windsor Castle for Ascot Race-course. They proceeded to the Prince Regent's stand, where the Duke of Gloucester was in readiness to receive them. There was the greatest :assemblage of Nobility that has been known ti:r a number of years. After the email sion of the second r►ce, her Majesty, the Princesses, the Duke of Gloucester, and suites, went in their c.ariages to Marquis Cornwallis's marquee, where there was an ele gant collation provided. After they had partaken of the refreshment, they returned to the Regent's stand, an I viewed the other races ; and at the conclusion, proceeded to the Prince Regent's cottage, where they partook of a sumptuous dinner. The contest for the King's Plate of 100 guineas lay between Mr. Shakel's horse and Mr. Hancock's mare, although five others started. It Was a most excellent race, and Mr. Shakel's horse won by half a head. There is a report, that a Distin,,cruislied Lady is recall ed from the Continent. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales has sent front Tunis, to the care of General Pint,, tut young lionesses as a present tbr the Emperor of Austria. They arc so young, that three goats have suckled them. Measures of severe precaution, with respect to persons entering Spain front France, have lately been adopted by the Spanish Government. Mr. Canning has been re-elected Member for Liver. pool by a Majority of 541 i. The number for him being ltt24o.—For Mr. Leyland 734. The attention of Parliament was last week called to the system.of the Poor Laws. When it is known, that the number of paupers receiving relief exceeds three millions, and eight millions sterling are annually expended on such relief, it will be admitted that some notice should be taken of their administration.—When the statute of Elizabeth was passed, which established the system of parochial relief; 15,0001. a year was thought sufficient for affording it ; but in the next reign, in 1618, the much greater sum of 665,0001. was finind neeesxary; and in a century and a half afterwards, in 1760, two millions were wanted. But such has been the aecelera. ted ratio of the increase since then, that in the half cen tury which has elapsed, the poor-rates have been quad rupled in amount, and are at no less at present than eight millions ! A goial deal of speculative argument is made use of, both in and out of the House of Commons, to shew the cause of. and remedy for, this dreadfid increase of pauperism—but the whole, in our opinion, lies in a nut shell. It may all justly be attributed to an extravagant and wasteful expenditure of the public money, which can only be supplied by an overwhelming weight of taxation. This heavy taxation fills our jails with debtors, and our workhouses with paupers. The ensuing :Anniversary of the great Victory of Waterloo will be celebrated by the Officers of the Royal Horse Guards, and Grenadier Guards, by an interchange of friendly compliments. The Officers of the one regi ment will dine at the Cavalry Barracks on the I7th ; and of the other at the Influttry barracks, on the 18th. Many of the Inhabitants ot• Windsor have united in a suhscrip ticm to entertain the Non-commissioned Officers and pri. vates of these two distinguished regiments with a sub. stantial English dinner on the 18th. MRS. MARDYN.—An unjust and illiberal attack was made on this Lady, on her first appearance in the dew Brady, on Friday night last, at Drury-lane Theatre. As it commenced instantly on her appearance, it could have no reference to the merit of her performancl, and, we suppose, must be attributed to the tintimnded ramours that have been so industriously circulated, ascribing a late matrimonial separation in high life, to her attractions a nd influence. We can confidently state., that there is not the least foundation in truth tint such a charge. Mrs. MARDVN never had any acquaintance with the Noble Personage in question, beyond what arose from their re lative public situations : we have no doubt, therefore, that the generous part of the public will again eagerly repel and resent, as they did on Friday night, all hose attempts to injure this eminent Actress. Iler perthrin ance, though in u weak state of health, and depressed, and at times quite overcome, by time treatment she re ceived, was highly natural and animated ; and we hnve no doubt, on repetition, it will, with due enmurogenient, become a very favourite character. i ( / 1 14