The National Register. — London, England, 1816-03-17 00:00:00

48 POLITIC.IL DISQUISITION. ABANDONMENT OF THE PROPERTY: TAX. WE believe we may congratulate the country on the approaching triumph of its exertions. Whatever opinion we may entertain of a modified Property-Tax, it is evi dent that the nation rejects it with horror. We are not of those who set their own wisdom above all other wis dom ; who wish to silence the feeling ft to deride the pnjudices of the people. As in a ease te otfrporcal suffer ing we con: rive the patient entitled to admit, or to refuse, the prescription of his physician ; in a case of national painfulness and anguish, we allow the same right to the country. Theorists may descant at their case, on the merits of particular plans: they may form beautiful sys tems, and defend them on the most reasonable grounds ; but their must splendid constructions, like Milton's tnins- C,rined angel, cannot stand the touch of that wand of trial, •atxperience. Speculation, if it be attended with the sym pathies of humanity, will always be checked in its wild est course, by this simple remonstrance—" we have fen the effects of the measures which you propose, and hence resist their renewal." This is now the universal lan guage of the British nation ; the language of those fur whose service the measure is to be adopted or rejected ; Ilud to whom it is therefore just to grant, not only an at tentive, but a submissive hearing. On what grounds do we found our expectations that the voice of the country will be obeyed ? On symptoms of a doubtful mind, which the Administration frequently, and perhaps unconsciously, betrays,—on defections, en csatraged by that vacillation which they contribute to amoncrit ; and on steps, preparatory to a retreat, which all have not an opportunity, or vigilance, enough to ob serve. There are tactics in political, as well as in mili tary warfare, which need only be studied attentively, to reveal the intended march, and sometimes the ultimate results, of systems and measures. Towns alone are not carried by storm. A bold and sudden attack may °fiat gain an important State question Such was the course adopted with respect to the Property-Tax. Its renewal was announced on the very first day of the Session ; its discussion fixed for an almost immediate period, and all the strength and activity of Government thrown into the scale to hurry the decision. It was justly felt to be a question which must be carried by promptness and vi gour of attack, as its defences were too strong to yield to any thing brit a surprise. It was, in fact, a political Gibraltar. The attempt was made, and it failed. The vigilance of the Opposition, and the illness of a Minister, treated delays, which enabled the country to marshal her force, and rush to the relief of the threatened mint. From that moment Ministers considered the measure as nearly lost. Their first symptom of despondency was totally unnoticed by the public. It was the postponement of the Committee on the Bank Advance Bill. By protracting the course and completion of that measure, they reserved to themselves a means of supplying the deficiency which the loss of the Property-tax might cause in their financial arrangements ; for, on the decision of that question against them, they would have only to call upon the Bank to double its advance ; and the mere alteration of s clause in that Bill, would remove all their difficulties. Their next symptoms of increasing doubt and desponden cy were, the repeated postponements of the discussion on the Property-Tax itself. They had some hope of repairing the failure of their first attempt, by gaining time for the arrival of the Irish Members, on whose support they re lied as the Last pillars of their cause. This hope is now also vanished. The appeal made by General Mathew, to the honour of his countrymen, not to impose upon Eng land a tax from which Ireland is exempt, has been duly answered. We are assured, from sources in which we place implicit crait, that no less than fifteen of the Irish Members lave signified their intention to Ministers, ei ther not to vote on this question, or to vote against it. It was probably after having received this information, that Lord Castlereagh attempted to gain further time in order to sound the other Members, and proposed to put off' the discussion of the Property-Tax, fixed in the most &foil_ Live manner for to-morrow night, on the futile ground that there was a grand dinner at the Freemasons' Tavern, fin the charity of St. Patrick. Foiled in this last attempt, the Chancellor of the Ex chequer scarcely concealed the air .andonment of his hopes. The House haviT 'why last gone into a committee on the Bank ..!;I.(ireee VII, he defended that measure on the very grour-1 " fiat the advance on the part of the Bank would p - ..vent the necessity of a loan ; and, that should a loan he allintolely required, it ould reduce its auseuut." Tlic Report of the THE NATIONAL ttGISTER. mittec was then put off to the next day ; and when it was received on Friday, the third reading of the Bill VATS postponed to Thursday next, three days after the fate of the Property Tax shall have been sealed. It is on these grounds, and we trust we have shown that they were more than mere speculations, that we found the expec tations we now hold out to the public. The nation, we now believe, will have her wish. May it turn to her advanta„•e; and may the gratification of her feelings be attended with the removal of her temporary distresses, and the enjoyment in uninterrupted felicity of that 1 verior glory and power, which her own exertions and the blessings of I leaven have bestowed upon her, the favoured amongst the nations of the earth. 'IIIE NATIONAL REGISTER. LONDON : SUND.4I", MARCH 17• We have received the Paris Papers of Monday and Tuesday lust, and Brussels Journals to the lvtli instant. Our Readers all know that about two millions of inha bitants of the left bank of the Rhine had been placed under the Prussian sceptre. This arrangement was made partly on the plea of general convenience, and partly from the alledged necessity of indemnifying Prus sia for her losses, and remunerating her thr her services. We are now infimed, in an article from Brussels, sup ported by accounts of an analagous hearing from other places, that those provinces have been ceded by the King of Prussia to the Emperor Alexander; who, it' report be true, gives the provinces, on the left bank of the Rhine, as a marriage gill to his sister, who has married the Prince of Orange. It is said, that the Empress Maria Louisa, in conse quence of the pressing solicitations of ,her fixther, will proceed immediately to Venice, to asattme the Govern ment of Parma, Placentia, and Guastella. All the French who were in her suite, haul been previously dis missed. I-Icr son does not accompuly her, but remains in Vinna, under the care and superintendance of the At: •trian iovernmz nt. There is a long circular letter in these papers from the Minister of the Interior, M. de N'aublanc, to the Pre fects, in which he notices the alarming reports and ma meuvres of various kinds which the disaffected employ to agitute the public mind. American Papers are arrived to the 14th ult. The late official and warlike communications between the Spanish Amllassador and the American Government have been ibilowed by the departure of his Excellency the Chevalier de Onis from the United States. The Commercial Treaty between this country and America is already acted upon on the part of the United States. A British vessel is named which had arrived, and under these new regulations paid only 100 dollars instead of 950. The extra duties taken subsequent to the 22d December ftom British vessels, arc in such cases ordered to be returned. The House Of Commons on Friday went into a Cmn mittee, to consider the Message of the Prince Regent, on the approaching marriage of the Princess Charlotte of \Vales with Prince Leopold of Saxe-Colxiurg. The sum of tio,oool. a year has been proposed as a suitable pro vision for the illustrious persons, and we are sure that there i► not a single individual in the country that will say that it is too much for the occasion. 1t is truly gra tifying to hear the flattering manner in which the cha racter of the young Prince is mentioned by persons who have the best information on the subject. . _ The Bank hare agreed to extend the redemption of :;0 per cent on the Omnium, from the 2(ith April to the 17th May ; and the 40 per cent. redemption from the 10th May to the Nth July. The Kentish Bank, at Maidstone, of Messrs. Penfuld and Co. stopped payment Thursday se'nnight. Gibbons and Co.'s Wolverhampton Bank stopped pay ment on Monday. _ _ JOHN CuntsriAN CuitwEN, Esq. having gained his election for Carlisle, he was on Saturday chaired round the streets of the city, and never was there at any former period more lively or more enthusiastic expressions of esteem paid to a %presentative, than was witnessed on this occasion. Lady Wilson left Paris on the 7th, for the purpose of presenting a representation to the Regent upon the proceedings against Sir H. Wilson. Our Government, it is said, have instructed our Ambassador to air.tain from all official interference in the proceedings of the French Tribunal. We nuclei stand that engineers, millwrights, boot and shoe makers, (70;1(.11.m:hers, saddlers, harness-makers, ostlers, sX:e. may gala o pwaras of to per cent. by CallAilitt an application u f the Royal Palen! Anti Attrition, told as No. -10,Churing Cross, to be used for the various pm-poses for which it h al b ee! , proved to he so highly beneficial, whilst the Proprietors of Works, oho nse this min* for prevent the effects of fric tion upon steam engines, machiner, catriipeec. es:c. or those who Ilse it to render boots and shoes, or any kind of leather, .• Water Proof. - save from 300 to ROM per cent. besides no : 'ileums other Rd vinddgeY, such as cleanliness, saving, wear and tear, time and labour, 'cc. is; a. MARCH 17. Cbc o.sebical ceonitor. NUNIIII 7 .II V. PALO! Forum SUPREMA E3T RHEUMATIC allialions still occupy a prominent station in the numerical list of complaints, which present themselves to medical observation. The disease has not only appeared in its distinct and proper form of acute rheumatism, attended with swelling and rigidity of the different joints of the body, but has also shown itself in various painful affections of the muscular structure. The Ace-aeh has been universally prevalent; which, although apparently a disease of no great importance, occasions, nevertheless, a considerable degree of pain and distress. The surest means of relief consist in the application of blisters in the neighbourhood of the afteeted part ; which, by promoting a copious discharge, take off that tension of the vessels which either causes or aggravates the mm plaint. The sensibility of the part appears also to be. morbidly increased to a considerable dcgrco,—a circum stance which indicates the use of opium or other nar cotics, after due evacuations have been obtained from the. system by appropriate medicines. The acute rheumatism, when it exists with great severity, is very apt, after the. geoend constitutional affection has subsided, and the in creased action of the vessels has diminished, to be sue-. messled by chronic rheumatism, often a tedious and pain till complaint. 'Ellis effect is also more likely to take place, when the disease, during its acute state, has twen improperly treated. It has commonly a very great dis position to shift its points of attack, and oftentimes spoil., taneously quits its present residence, to take up its abode in a new quarter. The, relief, therefore, experienced in a pained limb, is often fallacious; and when obtained by the local application of liniments and lotions, is sometimes purchased at the hazard of repelling the distsme, to some. internal, perhaps vital, part. Au important fact has lately etwaged the attention of pathologista, which scents previously to have escaped observation. Several cases of • sudden death, attributed by ordinary lookers-on to apt plexy, have been found to originate in a severe and sud den rheumatic affection of the heart ; the muscular fibrtst of which, having been rendered incapable of pet-tin-min their clue contraction, the circulation has been stopped, and death consequently ensued. It is probable, that a similar event would take place from an extensive affection of the diaphragm, the muscle which divides the cavity. of the thorax or chest, front the abdomen ; as respiration principally depends upon the motion of that muscle for its regular performance ; and without respiration, wo know life could not long subsist. In all the fatal in stances of rheumatism of the heart, hitherto observed, the patient had previously been subject to the external dis ease, viz. the atrection of the muscles or joints. This fact, of the retrocession of the disease ought to make us extremely cautious in the employment of topical rem:- dies; and shows the impropriety of seeking temporary ease by the use of WurrEtEsn's Essence of Mustard, or other advertised nostrums, at the probable expense of inducing an unhooked fiir and fatal termination. I can not be understood to forbid all topical applications in rheumatic affections ; on the contrary, when judiciously employed, especially in the latter gages of the chronic complaint, they are highly useful. It is the misappli cation of them only I would guard against ; and in many cases I would recommend the sufferers under this corn plaint, rather " To bear those ills they Lave, " Than fly to others that they know not of." One consolation it is in my power to offer them : It not unfrequently happens, that those persons, who are habi tually subject to rheumatic affections, enjoy, in other re spects, a good state of health ; the natural and vital fenc tions are regularly and duly perfianned ; and such persons are exempt tiont those stomach and bilious complaints which so much annoy many others; an exemption proba bly purchased by the liability to rheumatism, and to con tinue no longer than the prevalence of that affection. Among the curative means recommended in rheumatism, one may be mentioned, which can, at least, be practised without danger, and is said to have been eminently ser viceable. It was suggested, and adopted by a gentleman, not of the medical profession, who, in consequence of having learned that a celebrated race-horse at Newmar ket had been cured of a disorder which had all the symp toms of rheumatism, by swotting in 1)1)4-clothes, after every other remedy had foiled, attempted his own cure by similar means. The method proved completely suc cessful : on the first attempt, this gentleman could, with great difficulty, and in considerable pain, proceed half-a. mile; every succeeding walk Bimini, fed his sufferings ; and after the sixth, he was as free from pain as he had ever been in his life. The recital of this ease is interest. ing anti curious, and will appear, in our next number, in the patient's own words, as extracted from the Sd of the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. The attention of the public, no less than that of tho faculty, is directed to the measures about to be adopted by Parliament for the regulation of Mad-houses. This is a serious and important question; and the desire shewn by the promoters of the plan,.to ameliorate the lot of thus unfortunate tenants of these abodes, is highly laudable. The few comforts which it is in the power of the melan choly victims of insanity to enjoy, ought surely to be al►