The National Register. — London, England, 1819-05-30 00:00:00

114,1,r1,7(/W-c ggationat tgi ;4 tom Our Eting, Conititution ant L ADO. No. 1185.—VOL. XII.] ON THN STATE OF THE NATION. In our Postscript the week before last, we stated, and the event has fully proved our essertion to be .correct, that the political drama of the present Ses sion, if not the present Parliament, was then at the very acme of its progress ; and that the develope ment, happy or miserable, uould be soon unfold ed. This elenuttentent has proceeded with unex amplA rapidity, since that time. Mr. Tierney's motion for " an Enquiry into the State of the Na tion" has been negatived by a very large majority, and negatived, we regret to state, without one single argument assigned why it should not have been ehopted. The Defence of Ministers:, seemed a task upon which no one dared to venture, and when they atteatllled it themselves, the course they would surely, any where else Lut in the House of Commons, have been thought an odd one, viz. that of admitting the whole charge of a miserable state of Finances, without any plan hitherto adopted, either for the Redemption of Dcbt, or the Restora tion of Credit ; of a stagnated Commerce, and a de pressed Agriculture ; of an Administration divided emongst themselves, upon Questions of vital and pa ramount importance ; and lastly of having done no thing, originated nothing, ventured nothing fbr the Relief of a public crisis which demands the utmost energy. Lord Castlereagh, resting his d, tenet upon a ground, which no man better understands, of fa vours conferred during a series of eight years of Bower, and a few delicate allusions to the votes of those who had formerly served Itim,•and whom he in his tura had served, upon a flourish or two of Rhetoric which nu one untlerstood, but the Irish 'letnbers, and a long enumeration of the glories of Waterloo and the sublime arbitrators of the Con gress, threw himself, at last witlt pitiable humility upon the general sense of Parliament, and Parlia ment has forgiven him all his sins. IM friend and ally. Mr. Canning, w ith a still bolder confidence in the support of those he was addressing, treated an Enquiry into the Distresses of the country, dis tresses avowelly admitted on every side, with pre cisely the same degree of gravity and decorum as he did the sufrering of " the revered, the ruptured Og den," the continuance of the suspension -Act, and that lasting and indelible stigma of the Parliament, the Bill of Indemnity ; Bill which honourable mon would not easily have been led to ask, awl which to men of any other description should not have been granted. How can a body of Legislators, sit ting in what ought to be a •grave and solemn deli beration upon the rights awl interests of their fellow - creatures, allow one of the must serious arm! awful subjects that come before them, to he made day after day, food for the unseemly jeers and nonsense of this State Buffoon. How can the People of En gland retia:a from exclaiming like the poor frogs in the fable, as the boys stoned them, " Good sirs, this may be sport to you, but remember it is death to us." ..... SUNDAY, MAY, 30 1819• The Catholic Question in the House of Peers was negatived by a majority of forty-one, including all the Bishops, except those of Norwich and Rochester, the former of whom expressed himself in sentiments of unesual force, elegance, and beauty.- Why . should intolerance thus keep her -last hold upon breasts which should be peculiarly the abode of reason improved by learning, cud of charity fanned and fostered by Religion." The Question of the Bank Restriction hag been also most ably and powerfully discussed amongst the Lords. The solemn and pubic recantation of a man like Lord Grenville!, a man now entirely unconnected with any party, almost totally with drawn from the toils of public life, and political in- trigue, and who, during the eventful period in which this measure had been originated and pur sued, had borne so large a share of influence upon the public councils, is at once a striking and most j important lesson. " Having," Ears he, "considered this Restaction as one of the greatest calamitiei under which this suffering country has laboured, having frequently had occasion to lament and deplore the part which I myself took in it, on its original pro• position, having avowed my error in so do ing,as became an honest man, at the commencement of the last war ; and bating prophesied but too justly all the distress and misery which would befill the nation in consequence of it, I cannot help expressing my joy and satisfaction, that a period is now come when we may look forward to the Repeal of this injudicious and unfortunate measure." No one now seems bold enough to deny that to this we owe, at present, both commercial distress, increased 1 1 prices, and augmented taxes ; and it is not less clear that to its operation in times puss, anJ over which we can only now look back and mourn, we owed the maintenance of that serie, of political measures I which have resulted in such an unparallelled Load of Debt, and the sacrifice of lives unnumbered. Why we should not inclandy have returned to the right path, it is very difficult even with all the la bour bestowed upon proving its danger, to see any I adequate reason. Lord Grenvilic's opinion is, that cash payments might have been safely resumed this year ; and we have every fear •from delays, know I ing how dangerous they are. Four years arc now contemplattal es the time to be allowed before we are to be quite restored to a sound and healthy circulation. What and if war should again break out during this impoitant interval? Will not Go vernment be again inclined to make use of the Bank ! of England ; and if that Company should ever again get a controul over the pockets of the People of England, what is to prevent us front being again subjected to the same degrading and unnatural state of Political, or rather Pecuniary Bondage ? What is to prevent the Bank of England from again be coming, as they now assume themselves to he, " the Guardians of the Interest of the Nation ?''—We have heard those gentlemen repeatedly and repeat edly declaring, that they gained nothing by the Re strietion, and that they wen- exceedingly anxious for ass removal. What credit is now due :o :;ac:i asser- ' . _PRlct %ft tions is but too clearly proved. .1 !I • I r moment that a determination was manifested by the country to rescue the Government from t:aeir trammels, re monstrances poured in like gape-shot upon ottr . trembling and appalled 3i:tiger of Finances ; the Bank told him flatly they 5ht , ..11.1 call is the Debt he owed them, and Bank-stock has fallen at a rate which the oldest dealers in that artide cannot re member. The bubble is bursting, and our sincere prayer is that such another never may be biov..n. It is truly gratifying to the friends of freedom, that the principles of Mr. Fos, on the great ques tion of the Bank Restriction Act, have at length become triumphant, and that his bi; terc , :t opponents are forced to acknowledge the truth and wisdom of his doctrine on tile subject. How fortunate it would have-been fiir the empire, if they had been acknowledged nod acted upon when first promul gated ! It would have saved this country hundreds of millions, us well as touch of our most valuable blood ; for nothing can be more true, than the honest acknowledgment of Lord Grenville, that though the inconvertible paper syst , :io gave great facilities to Ministers, in the war in which they involved us, yet they were more than counter balanced by the confusion which i; introduced into our finances, and the misery it brought oa . the country. _ . . The same argument of giving great facilities to Ministers, ought in the present moment, and at all times, to make patriotic and independent Members careful how they again trust Ministers with power that they may abuse. The revival of a Property Tar, however pressingly called fur by temporary embarrassment, has this dangerous evil in its comp sition, that it puts an engine into the hands of Ministers which may be employed at their pleasure in extending their influence, dr even in plunging us again in war. Give them once their modified tax— keep out all the inquisitorial part of it in the begin. ning—nay, make it in the first instance a commu tation tax, and strire to reconcile country gentle men to it by relieving them from the vexatious bur then of assessed taxes--and what security can we have, that they will not year by year add to its annoyance as they did beibre, and make it intolerable to the community ? NVe ought to dread its revival umier any shape, and with tvhate?er plausih:e con ditions it may be found, fint it is certain, that with this resource once granted, an hopes ofretrencliment, all cutting otfof useless and even hurtful sinecures— all reduction of the army—all economy will vanish. Let us hope, that the voice of the people will be• heard on the subject, from every cart of the United Kingdom—and that the unhersal demand will be, retrench fir3t—reduce establishmants—and see what the refbrin of every branch of our expenditure will do for the nation before it is called upon for more taxation. It is not a vague supposition of oars, that Ministers are contemplating the return to this obnoxious tax. It is the universal belief, in the circle of ministerial adherents, that they are at this moment feciing the pulse of ❑il over whom they have iemence, and are actually cauva.ssing fur votes on the matter. We rejoice to see, that the artful punk, excited by the speculators, against the return to a metallic currency, has already subaicleil. Wednesday the funds rose and fell 24 per cent. and very large part chases were made. We have no doubt, then, bit, that, if wise and prudent measures were adopted, the revenue might be made equal to die expenditure, without it to the alluming expedient of a property tax. Tt:::e —From the late exirbi;:ott 3t York, it ..o !cent that Sir Mark Sykr3's colt, Itha:Lttnai, h was the ben and tuot.t protni..n6 of :he .ottogottes about to Jrpear.