The National Register. — London, England, 1808-03-20 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. Our Nine, et onotitution. anD No. 12. PART I. THE TRIAL OF LIEUT.-GENERAL WITITELOCKr, TAKCN IV SHORT-HAND AT A c()1Dr.121111.1 . r X PENCE, AND ST7YEI(HLY rit IN I II) IN 40 CO 1.1.1 A s, 15 7HAS DAY, SUNDAY, MAUCH t2O, Ibo‘.;, DLLIVEILED ATli SU ND AY, MARCH 90, 1808. _-` .._ _ THE 1 7 .711f11.1NEUS OF THF iTIO iF REGISTRII. The great mass of FAldetice that was given on the Trial of LIEU r.-6 A I. NV 1:1.0 renders it impossisle, in the compass of It/ l'olumte:, to comprize more tll2ll ante-holf of the Dery interesting, Proceedings at Chelsea, wit hout giviag, mere rrbled !;xtracts of the Evidence t the Proprietors of Poe Au rune! Brgister, therefore, waving n!I considerations of Expellee, have rPsolverl to present rroltatuttvly to the Public on Sr so A v ti r IT, March 1/, IMH, the cent htuatian of the Trial in :in ad g iqenal Columns, being the :4 cco nl•tuT, Whirh wilt con tain the Defenee of Lieut.-(ieneral VV listelocke at length, and tile Silo:lice of the Court, if al!oterft In be Mad, pia/ilk; tote %, i l l ; the Opettiug Charge, and Final Reply of the Judge Atlvor:sio, or the Papers produced on the Trial, aA are necessary iii the izeneral eluci,lation of the whole. The Proprietors of The Alittionig R , ghler Irtv ,, expended a very lar;e Sant of Money, in presenting groot;foully to flit: Pub lir, this Important Trial, in order that the Nt tiovA I. V I: . tti sr En, at the close of the year, may he found to be the ingst rerfert I? Et;ts rr R of the /'t wau,thatever iFsonA frntn ally pre" in Europe ; and they trust that a liberal Pnblie, will step for- Att:lrd with such witbtinnut Pat ronal, , e, :t to summon their en deavimrs to promote the di,emination of general and useful It tn4v he necessary to inform the Pithlie. that the Proprie tor• have superintended the f)i:.trihutioo of the atotv.• to the Nev.-men and they are confident that +tot a sing;,' palter ha'. been i-stted from their ()titre. wititont hemp; ar , outpo»iri: bv the I Port of the Trio!; should t 4,9 efore any accident arise in ficiitTrft (if Trio!. a pplicatifkit mast Ile matte to the l'er sat) who serves the Patter, and t•• v% nom immediate ttederg bo "fief u for the Au/Omni i?rgi.ilec to prevent the pos titolity of dibappointment. POLITICA I. DISQI' Nu‘trir:te TNT'. INCOMP. OR. PROPERTY TAX. trti, that :Le era i orms. come ill the Ilis!ory of tqtx. Shier the last N umber of 'l'u r• \.l LIONA lit :Ai ISTER Was l'ettilon to tile lions(' Cominotpi a4ailit it hag been iire4ented, by Sir Henry Alihimny, in %!iich the* petitioners declare, that their %cry eilildrClie cliitlies had licea suid by the tax-gatherers, in order irty it. 'i. his is the first ii:*tance, as far as we know, of a public, rt-:cided attestatioa of the misery whieb this tax is (Tea t!;!'. The extent and depth of the misery is matter of in khs idual experience to tnery one who looks into tho eir !nista ceq of the great mass of them who suffer by it. hot complaint, however bitter, and however well-founded, has hitherto been confined to private circles. We say :'gain, the first petition to Parliament against this destruc tire impost, k an era! We are aware that the circumstances of these petitioners nil', ac far as possible, be turned into contenipt, by the .7t!. 1 - ct. 1 to w. - ~` .. -~ PRICE Sd. 1 patrons, and oujoyers of the taxes, and their retainers ; a tribe, alas ! by far too numerous, and too powerful in this countrY. They will be described as an intemperate class of men belonging to the Dock-yard at Portsmouth r a question with which we have luckily nothing to do. It is not the character of the complainers, hut the reality of the cause for complaint, in which the country is interested. to fact it is part of the hardship and . cruelty of this case that it is one in which the modest, and most unworthy sufferer cannot be the first to utter his complaint. He strives to conceal his necessities. He struggles to save appearances. He widish to conceal even }ruin his friends the weight of his poverty. llis family secretly cut off, one after another, their en . hivrents, and spend their days and nights in noxiety. Their articles of property and even of fitrititure gradually disappe:ir : and what, in its ultimate consequences, is, perhaps, the most depioralite of all, the education of his young ones must be alennh•ned, because what shout(' pay for sending, them to school he is esliged to give the tax-gath:rer. This hst ciceene.tanca is of a magnitude to command the at!eniihn even of the most tin.: feehne. It is the children of such fairdies, as this we have just now described, who grow op to evecoto some of the most important. offices of the community ; who (el, in a great meashre, what is called the middling rank of society. If they are reared withiJut that education which prepares them to fill that station, a blank is left in s uc i vi y w hi c h nothing can supply. Tile country receives a blow in AS most vital part. A rare of nobles may he lost and re places! in little time, and with tittle didicoltv. But a mid (fling rank once lost, and Hut condition of a country is overthrown. Wherever a middling rank is large and flourishing, there the country is opulent and proshative. Wherever a middling' rank is wanting, the country is wretched ; and happiness :11141 prosperity in difihrent coun tries will be found in the exact proportion, which the mid dling rank in earls hears to the other two. lu Turkey there is no middling rank : in Austria and Russia 4. is "%cry. small. It was and is considerably larv.tr in France. In ;,wit7er land a%d Ilolland it was formerly large. In Great Britain it has hitherto been largest of a!!. Exactly in the same order may naiional ',nivel:ly and happiness he traced. This is the class which the Property Tax, in conjunction with others, is hastening to destroy. It is, too, one or the misfortunes of the case, that it is hastening to effec tuate this melancholy catac.rophe by a hidden and silent process. By the concealment and patience of the indi viduals, the calamity may be in a great measure accom plished, (the approximation is already deplorable be• fore those who have a i.ief influence to avert it, can be ren dered sensible of the evil. The conduct of Mr. Fox, in regard to Mgr tax, is in structive and• memorable. We need not mentio n 'the remarkable circumstaneec of its introduction. When it was repealed by Mr, Addington, now Lord Sidmonth, the language used by Mr. Fox ought to be held in everlasting remembrance. " Ile congratulated the cotuktiry ea dela..