The Statesman. — London, England, 1815-02-27 00:00:00

SLAVE TRADE. l'uttNA, FEL M.—The debates upon • the Abe liCou of the Slave Trade have occupied. the Congress du.ing several sittings. Lord Castlereagh, after some apposition nu the part of the Maritime Powers. prevailed upon jpem to consent, that the affair should he i li seog csed in a General Committee of the eight Powers that hail 4i,gned the Treaty of Paris. 'This Committee was composed of Messrs. Talley 'rend, Metternich, Nesselrode, Humboldt, Lehra dor, Castlereagh, Lowenheilm,and Palmella Souza. In the first confe rence, which took place on the 14th of January, France, Spain, and Portugal declared that they acknowledged the principle of Abolition, but that the interest of their subjects who had e.tates in the colonies, obliged them to proceed with much caution, lest by benefiting the blacks they should ruin the whites. On the ROth, Lord Castlereagh at. tempted to obtain an immediate Abolition; but he found a strong opposition to the measure on the part of Spain ant[ Portugal. M. DE Labrador declared, that Spain had en. gaged, b. the Treaty of Juts 5, 1814, only to take into co siileration the means of abolishing the trade ; that th Court of Spain had, however, in come quenc • of the application of the English Ambassa dor, fixed the definitive abolition at the end of eight ears, and in the mean lime had confined the trad • to the convs of Africa situated between the 'equ tor and the tenth degree of north latitude; an I that this was all that could he granted, consi dering the situation of the colonies of Cuba and Porto Rico. M. Palmella Souza, the Portuguese Envoy, ob served, that Portugal, by the Treaty of the 19th of Fcb. 1810, had promised only a gradual abolition of the trade ; that the Prince Regent of Brazil had al ready coofigted it to his possessions in Africa, and had ordered such regulations to he made as would tend to preserve the health of the hegroes. Ile complained that the Eellish cruisers, disregarding the Treaty of Commerce, bad in time of peace taken away front his subjects I() or 12.000 negroes, the value of which amounted to 3.000,000 of Piastres ; and that these ne groes, if they had arrived at Brazil, would haveaccele tilted the period i,f the aholition. Portugal, however, agrees to abolish the Sias e T. ade at the expiration of years, on condition that England will renounce Fover,il oppressive clauses in the Treaty of 1810.- 7,01..1 Castlereagh applied to Cardinal Gonsalvi to obtain from hint a declaration of the. immorality and wickedness of the trade; but we ore assured that the Cardinal took that opportunity of complaining 'that England tolerates, in some sense, the barbarians that at this time infest the coasts of Italy. At the Fourth Sitting, held on the 3d Feb. Lord Castlereagh proposed that a Committee of Ambassa dors should be appointed at Paris or London, to su pelintend the e‘ecuiion of the arrangements that m ight he adopted. This proposal was rejected. On the 7th of February , the Negc , ciators at last agreed to draw up a Convention fur the gradual abolition of the trade. ri Maits. I)ue 0 1 .. A . Ilamburgli U . ' , Nut; ~ )ti snit:l(s Tiiik; "It C.ert Red. (111 :,er(*.emt 64} ..'•ete... 84; 5 rer 9.)11 • 7 11 1 21 3 DAY AT (EVE O'CLOCK z. Ann. 16} 5-16 17din 1.1 ,, n.h 7 8 p V.7,-lrequer 1.1 2 p Oruititi:n Si} d• Coasol> r,r Acc. STATESMAN. 1.0 NOO V: MONDAY, FED:WARY 27, 1815. A llamhtirgh Mail, Brussels and Frankfort Papers, I and Voris Journals to the 2lth, have arrived. The intelligence from Vienna is to the .12th, at which date, it is asserted, " all' the arrangements which have irrevocably fixed the lot of the Continent were signed." Lord CASTLEREAGH was to cot off on the 13th. He returns by the way of Paris, where he was daily expected, to communicate with the French Government. There is some rank stuff in the Belgian Papers, which our 'friend the Courier will doubtless save us the trouble of giving, about; the Brigliah hlialaate having displayed " a seal, a firmness, and a perseverance which has insured to the States in which he has interested himself, the I most brilliant destinies, and that svell-rogulated belly . which alone can procure the happiness of nations."—ls not this a brillittnt touch, Reader ?—t ft is above the level . of the Dutch school, yet can never be supposed to be French, for his Lord ship has certainly reduced France to sackcloth.-1 The French Papers have furnished rather a curious history. of the Councils held on - the subject of the Slave Trade, in which they ssy, his Lordship " in vain made a pompous display of philanthropy, and that it was thought to be visible, that he was more oc cupied by the interests of his own country, than by the love of humanity." Now, this we ran hardly be lieve,any more than theDdtchman's flourish. HisLard ship's philanthropy may be vain enough, and the re sult of his" zeal, firmness , and perseverance ," in the cause of general liberty, may unfortunately prove it to be so ; but that his Lordship has all along been " occupied with the interests of this coontry" miy not' be so evident, for assuredly his liberality in restoring the French their West India islands, and the inten tint) whiCh we hear is cherished of giving bark the I)ntch their colonial possessions also, does not seem very much studying the interests of this country. Bet a truce with " pompous displays of philanthro py" in favour of fore;gn objects. We want at pre- Kent a little of the real feeling of charity and 'woes°. !mice for objects nearer home, where we see enough of slavery and human suffering to relieve. Whilst. ;uch !oilers are forging for the people of this soi di- THE STATESMAN. sant free nation as the Corn Bill, nnil an immense standing army are likely to supply-- whett the nations on the Continent may laugh at us when we talk of ,our liberty, and tell us we could not import a ship load of • corn though we were starving, it is time to look at home, and see what sort of freedom of action we ourselves have. We need not talk of times of peace, for peace.returns only with public happiness, with the return of a just order of things; and tran quillity is not the effect of that policy which strikes at the root of national prosperity and content. The deep dissatisfaction which is exciting by the legislative measure to keep up the price of corn, or rents, is neither partial nor disguised. Every man thinks he has a right to speak out when his food is touched, and ull have no difficulty in forming opinions on this sulljeoseaf he general voice is the general law, which oujit to be heard and obeyed. We feel it our duty, although it were from no other reason than what we apprehend must be the consequences to the public peace from a contrary conduct, to impress atten tion to thegeneral wishes, as now expressed in regard to the proposed restrictions on the importation of grain. ' The country has had and heard enough of the i Luddite system of reduction. The necessity which is • imposed again upon the great body of the population' of this country to meet and petition the Legislature against the intended Corn Bill, cannot but be ex pected to have serious effects on the public tran quillity. Meetings we perceive are calling in many , populous places, and the entire of the manufacturing and commercial towns in the empire will , d ou b t l ess, lose no time in petitioning. 1 ARequisition was signed on Saturday by a number of the Merchants of the Corporation of this City, to re ! quest the LORD M A. yOR to calla Meeting on the Ro)al • Exchange of the Merchants, Bankers, and Traders, to take into consideration the propriety of Petition , ing the PRINCE REGENT against the propose , ' ahem i tion of the Corn Laws ; and a Meeting takes place at Manchester to-day, and et I..eerla on Therulay, for the purpose of addressing Parliam la on 1 the same subject. We have all proper coofidenCe .in the good sense of our countrymen, but trentu loos nerves may fear for the effect of debating a topic of such an irritating cast in what have been I termed the disturbed districts. Yet what concerns t he vital interests of the public must, and ought to under , go public discussion ; and we should but ill per form i our office if we did not continue to recommend the Isubject to general attention, and advise general and immediate petitions, not merely against the high price Ito be imposed upon the chief article of subsistence, I but against the continued existence of all the other causes of the nation's burthens, wasteful and unne cessary expenditure of the public money, standing larmies in a time of peace, and even a change of Mi- I sisters, or of their system of policy altogether. Ministers seem either blind or indifferent to the si tbation of the country—the present crisis is an awful one, and every thing we see and hear still more convinces us, that nothing but an immediate change of measures can prevent a convulsion that cannot be contemplated without alarm. The 44 syste:m offinance," as it is called, which Mr. VANSITTART has just submit ted to Parliament, is the weakest and most objection. able plan that any •Minister ever yet proposed—it is de ficient in every necessary of sound policy and epplica bility, and promises nothing but a most abundant product of trouble and national mischief. Very dif ferent, indeed, are the measures which our present necessities demand—a very short and plain statement of our real silaution will convince the most sceptical of the dangers that await us. The close of a twenty years' war has left the coun try with a debt of upwards of 800 millions, the in terest of which amounts to upwards of 28 millions. For this sum the property of the whole nation, real and personal, is pledged. The amount of this property has been calculated by the best writers on statistics and political economy, at about 1900 mil lions.—Thus the mortgage, if we include the floating and unfunded debt, amounts to above half the actual property mortgard !—but, if •we add the sums paid in parochialtaxes, local, poor, and church rates, it Will be found that the expendi ture actually amounts to more than the receipt To prove that this is the case, nothing more is neces sary than the recollection, that zee hare been obliged to begin on the principal: this was done when the Land Tax was sold. Let us examine, for the sake Of Peripiculty, how this would operate in priiate life. i —A man mortgages his estate to the full amount of its value, of course, therefore, his whole income is consumed in the discharge of the interest of his debt. lle must, however, live; he therefore begins by selling a field. But as by going on in this way ruin Would become inevitable, the mortgagee would of course foreclose and pay himself. A man in pri vate life would therefore be obliged to economize, and by reducing his establishment, contrive to ex ist; but if he was a prudent man he would lay by small sum annually, and by creating a sinking fund his difficulties would gradually disappear. But a very different system has been adopted by Ministers to avoid their feeling the direct burden of the debt— they multiplied their negociable securities by an in- . undatton of paper eorrency. By this operation Bank notes have increased from'five millions, which was about the quantity in circulation at the com mencement of the war, to thirty-two millions, which are at present in circulation, independent of country bank tante, to nearly as great aft amouut; and thus by an Act of Parliament taking the precious metals out of circulation, a false credit was obtained, and an appeiratice of solvency created, while, if our affairs had been investigated in the same manner as would apply to private life, bankruptcy would have been unavoidable ! At last (as every thing must have an end) the war ceases, and peace is restored to us. The unnatural value of every thing forced and bolstered up by the peculiar nature of the war, as it had been for so long a pe riod, returns to its regular level. 'Corn, that great regulator of the price of every other commodity, falls to a price which the grower cannot sell it at, if he is to continue to be burdened with the enormous load of taxation which, daring the war, he had la boured under. Ministers, in this dilemma, have but one resource, that of giving a forced price to corn, which naturally raises with it the price of every thing else. But this cannot last. It may prevent the evil front breaking in upon them, for a short time, but it still goes on—what is the remedy therefore? Th.! short and simple one of suiting the expenditure to the income! curtailing whatever espence cannot be a Worded, and thus meeting the emergency at the right end : that they must ultimately come to this, there can be no doubt. If the prodigious naval and military establishments we now support, are not limited, it may not be altogether absurd to suppose, they will be shortly unpaid, the natural cense querices of which .are obvious. Jobs of all sorts, now existing, should be abolished, and all future ones discountenanced ; a plan of the most rigid economy should be - immediately adopted in every department of the State; all sinecure places done away with, and the whole plan of retrenchment car ried into effect without a single exception.—This alone, to all present appearance, can save tut from approaching ruin. While we are on this subject, we cannot but al lude to the plan in contemplation for a new Post- Office. It is said, the removal of it from its pre sent situation to St. Martin's-le-Grand, will cost upwards of 800,0001.: nothing but the most absolute necessity- can surely justify the expenditure of such a sum. We have heard that a plan has been sub mitted to Government which appears to us to be utterly unexceptionable—the removal of the Excise-Office to the spot where the old Custom-House formerly stood, and the converting of the present Excise- Office into a Post-Office. It is said that this could be done not only at no expcnce, because the sale of the present Post-Office would more than defray it, but that both establishments would be materially benefited by the change. The scite of the present Excise-Office holds out every possible advantage as. a Post-Office.. The Mail-coaches could conveniently draw up in the in closed area, where they cotdd be shut in while load , ing, by which the danger, delay, and trouble, of twice loading the Mails would be avoided (to say nothing of the disturbance which is created by the nightly assembly of thieves and disorderly persons, to the impediment of all passengers in Piccadilly, Oxford-street, &c.). The building affords abundant room for offices, which could be speedily, and with. out difficulty, constructed, amply sufficient for the well conducting the whole of the internal business.— In addition to this the removal of the Excise-Office to the immediate neighbourhood of the Custom-House, would be a measure highly advantageous to that de partment, and is most desirable in every way. But we have heard, what we are unwilling to be lieve, that the sum of 100,0001. is also to be voted by the City of London towards the erection of the proposed Post-Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, from the Orphan's Fund ; for which sum, so to be con. tributed, the City intend to petition Parliament, praying that an additional Port Duty of one shilling in the cheldron may be laid on all Coats brought into the Port of London ! This surely never can be con. sewed to. A Corn Bill and a Coal Bill at the same time would be too much ; and we cannot see on what possible pretence the Cities of Westminster, the 80. rough of Southwark, and all the Immense population of the metropolis, and the environs out of the City, should be taxed for an object solely advantageous to the City, or a part only of the City. These are considerations of importance ;—we trust they will be duly weighed, and that measures of eco. nomy and retrenchment, in every possible way, may be adopted, before it is too late. The most fright. ful calamities are menacing the country; we only ful fil our duty in raising our feeble but earnest voice to avert their dire effects. A Requisition to the Sheriff of Wilts has been signed by nearly 500 names, to obtain a County Meeting to consider of petitioning Parliament on the subject of the Corn Laws, and for the abolition of all the War Taxes. The Meeting to be held in Salisbury on the Bth of March. Yesterday, at two o'clock, a Cabinet Council was held at the Foreign Office, which sat till a few mi nutes after four. Lord Cul ais expected to return to &gland with Lord CASTLEREAGH from Vienna. • We are desired by a Correspondent to enquire of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, whether he means by doubling the tax upon Bachelors to extend it to men who live separate from their wives ?—they are to all intents and purposes single men. A meeting of the shoemakers of Stafford has been held, on the subject of preclodinglrom the exercise of that harle, all those who hate not served a regular apprenticeship. Some of the i ltieinjf4turers base refused in countenance the meeting, while others have encouraged it. TORBAY, Fcn. 2 4.—Sailed Ms Majestf i s ship Cordelia, on a cruise. NAIL,Th INTELLIGENCE. DEAL, Fen. 26.—Canrie down from the River John and Thomas, for Madeira; the J ames, Baurdeaux ; the Zelia, for St. Michael's ; an d Eliza and the Hope, for Bermuda, &c. ard in the Downs with the outward-hound hest fleet and a large fleet of merchantmen.—Sailed Griper goo-brig, for Sheerness. l'onTsmotrii, Frn. 26.—Arrived the Vern, A' kinson, (rem Sunderland ; and the Nancy, çio:n sey.—The it assembled are his Majesty's shski,irri or, ° f e or n T°3 Madeira Majesty's and the West Indies ; 31,, Lague, for Bermuda and the Bahama Island i : bar, for the East Indies, Cape, &c. ; Desiree, the Brazils and South Seas ; Leven, for Nevrfouild, land, Quebec, &c. ; and Phoenix, fOi• Spain, P tugal, and the Mediterranean. FALMOUTH, FEB. 24.—Arrived the Salted, St.v, berg, from Cork.--Sailed yesterday his Maje s t y ., ship Bittern, for Liverpool ; Gotrtfinch, on a crui— and several vessels coastways.--Sailed to-day his lb' jesty's ships Glasgow and Nymphet!, on a crair Put back yesterday the Plymouth, Kidd, lih st p, with loss of foretop:rnut.—The follussing p ac k, are now in the . roads, detained by Contrary Kinds ; Princess Elizabeth, Lady Arabella, and Dige Kent, for Lisbon ; Express, for Gibraltar and Mary, for the West ludies; Windsor Castle, for Wax ; Fox, for Surinam ; and the Queen Cluirl,tie for the Brazils. LIVERPOOL, FER. 25.—The Susannah . , Bichax ; son, from Whilehu wen, for I.;verpOo:, with oatr flour, and bale goods, went to pieces on the eveffl of uie 22d inst. near the pile of Foudry : crew al passengers, 25 in number, saved in the boat.—P o t back the Royal Edward, bound to Bermuda, haw been on shore nears Wexford, and received damage. Accounts from New - South %Vales to the of October state, that the cattle in the . have multiplied so considerably that beef was at , the pound. Wheat was likely to be very deficient. It seems that the last year it was sold as low as -Is. to ss. per bushel, and the farmers, in consequence of this discouragement, did not find it their interest to continue the cultivation. The trod. , the cnlnny was improving, and wool was cnnsid-red ttie priaci• pal article of merch The imitii4einein in the general accommodation at this remit. es'ahlish. meta was not inconsiderable, and a road, 'lb miles in length, over the mountains, which had Wyk. heeo traversed and explored, was _among the f.mciii ..s afforded by recent exertions to cultivation and soh si stence. A•Special Commission is appointed to be held at the Old Bailey, to try an extraordinary case of MU. der, to-morrow. A reward of 1001. is offered In Saturdiy's anctic for the discovery of the murderer of MARY Batt, wife of HENRY HALL, a labourer, at bum!, is Buckinghamshire, with a free pardon to any accom plice making such discovery. The murder was per. petrated between 9 anti •10 o'clock, P. M. oa the 7th inst. Lady MILDMAY, it is reported, has retired to private lodgings, in Southampton, and now Heel in the most economical manner. with a view of devotiog the greater part of her income to the liquidation of the damages given against her son. There is every reason to think, that the propocql tax on Newspapers will l e abanduned. The Curs. ccuon of the EXCHEQUER having made the engoirie , ► and consulted the authorities to which he should ha►e referred in the first instance ► finds that it would sot answer. KING'S Titc.ta'ne.—The very beautiful genet of Les Troubadours, Wig performed for the second time on Saturday night. The theatre was most brilliant, and the Ballet was received with bursts of acclama tion. It is a most finished performance; and Saturday it received new charms by its compression. The march of the story was more rapid; the Diver tisemeuts were properly shortened, and the et:fries of some of the performers were not doubled. The de corations of this Ballet are also very fine. The scei e in the second act is one of the most beautiful land scapes we ever saw on the stage, and the architectu ral scene in the third act is also magnificent. DRURY-LANg THEATRE --lASt Saturday night a new Frace was produced, called Poor Relalions. It was frequently interrelated, and fierily condemned. After the curtain fell, there was a cry of " Manager." Mr. MUNDEN came forward, and stared," that the France not having met the public approbation, shook' be withdrawn."—The author, we understand, is the same who wrote the Bee Hive. On the authority of the Inspector of the watch of Clerkenwell Parish, we have to contradict the para• graph that has appeared in the public Papers, stating that GRIMALDI, the celebrated Clown of Coy& Garden Theatre, had been : attacked and robb-41 is Spa.fields, by a man who afterwards tome - A out to is a watchman. The whole story being a fabrication highly injurious to the character of the watch, ntt4 the peace of the neighbourhood, we think'the parish officers ought to have given an official contradiction to it before now. Miss FITZIIENRY, who performs on Nfonasy nett, for Lady PERBOTT'S Benefit, is, we understand, the' young Lady, who, two years ngo, paid one hundred pounds for the performance of the celebrated Amateur of Fashion. • On Monday morning the 13th inst. bet vein o and .three o'clock, two female servants of Mr. Jn'• Ullett, miller, of Wilsthorpe, near: Stamford, in consequence of having been chided by their mistress for being found up at that unseasonable hour, re• gating themselves with tea, Bcc. left the house, and some time afterwards one 'of theta was found drowned in a small rivulet otter the premises; the other was standing beside her, dropping with wet, and weeping bitterly. They had both, it seems, gone out with the intention - of drowning themselves, but the latter, for tunately, had failed in her resolution ofio4oing. Green-room report speaks highly of Mr. Prit.Ev, who is shortly to make his debut at Drury-lene, a s Nor-cal, in•tiid Tragedy . of Douglas. This rung actor has just been imported from the English then. tre at Brussels. River c is Jam es , for ; and the remai s East Wiz Sailed tIL Hero, AL, .sty's ies ; ; Paine, f or S - PWrOllnt!. pain, p m 'eat, S t ", Majp,t ) ., 11 a mi.— ay hi s L cruise.— bllst er, ig p ar k el ry wihdt ; Age Ind le. for lia: (,hare tic, t Richard. th oatmeal, he evening crew Bed )oat.--Put Ida, holing ived m uc k the 13th settlemeLtt was at r deficient. II 241. 1. ime nt s na• on on. er• r of de- ere tu• t!ii It ed. !he 011 the , of ing ect io on isa ea ti, hr, .ur '0 n 5. 111 Ps re- rd ras ite Ir. 89 rig 71,