The National Register. — London, England, 1819-12-05 00:00:00

A POLITICAL WARNING. The Dirtlies fievkly Regaler contains an able Review of tile Political Stele fur the las► thirty years, luldressed as a warning to EngLshinen The article is entitled " An Adtlress to the Constitu tional Englishmen," to whom it is recommened at the. present momentous crisis, as en example replete with warning and instruction. In its detail of the inroads made upon the newly acquired Constitution of Ireland down to its final overthrow, the following passages de rive peculiar interest from the circumstances of the pre sent times. " Public meetings of the people." says the writer, " constitutionally convened to deliberate upon grievances the most notorious anti intolerable, were held in be high treason in disguise, and were dispersed or overawed by military fence. To be the friend of free dom, was to be marked for public dishonour—no rank nor integrity could save the sictiin :—for instance, two popular Noblemen, the Duke of Leinster, and the Earl of Claremont, both of them venerable from their exalted station their years, and their tried virtues,'were degraded from their offices of Lords Lieutenant of Counties: the tirst was dismissed, the other insulted into a resignation. Upon the subject of military violence, I can mention Wit or two examples, which at the present moment may seem worthy of your attention. The town of Belfast had long taken an honourable part in the cause of National Reform, and was regarded as our grant northern emporium of public spirit ; it therefore became expedient to terrify and humiliate it. In looking over the records of those times, I find that on the lbth of March, 1793 (at a season of profound local tranquility), four troops of dragoons having arrived in the vicinity by different routes, galloped into the centre of the town by its two opposite extremities with their swords drawn, as if in full charge.' rhe account goes on to say, that' they proceeded to attack every per son of every age and sex, who happened to be in the streets.'—Would you not have supposed (without the date) that the writer was ht re describing your 16th of August ? This outrage was never brought before the Parliament. It was well known that airy demand of enquiry . into it would have been aswered by ' referring the %tennis to the ordinary tribunals of the country. " At a subsequent period, a meeting at which the Duke of Leinster was to have presided, was publicly an nounced to take place to the county of Kildare, to con sider a petition to the Throne on the redress of grievances. The ebening before the day of the intended assembly, a military force with field pieces, &c. appeared in ' the neighbourhood ; the Commanding Officer, on being questioned, candidly admitted that lie had positive orders to fire upon the people, if they should persist in their design of assembling. No public caution to that effect having been given, a Nobleman now in Ireland, who was to have taken a part in the proceedings of the fol. lowing . day. waited upon Mr. Pelham, the Secretary, to ascertain the truth of so extraordinary a measure. He found the Secretary as candid as the officer, and, in con sequence, announcing without loss of time to the publi the violence which awaited them, fortunately preventec an incalculable effusion of human blood. limy memory is correct, it was for his intention of presiding on this occasion that eke Duke of Leinster was degraded from the Lord Lieutenancy of the county. These are a few specimens of the working of the Pitt system in Ireland. The limits of a Newspaper do not enable me to dwell on all its parts ; upon its mis chievous and unnecessary suspensions of the Constitu tion ; the enormous powers granted to Magistrates, and (the inevitable consequence) their enormous abuses, followed up in due order with acts of indemnity ; its measures of summary vengeance on the popular press; its corrupt influence on the administration ofjitstiee; its open encouragement of venal Sheriffs, packed juries, spies, and ihformers. This could not last without pro ducing consequences which a child might hare pnmlicted. The proi,le, wearied and h. , ffial in their constitutional efforts, became impressed with the conviction that revo- lution was more attainable than reform, and resorted to violence. You know the issue." " S ith is ti:e brief summary related in a subdned tone of the real history of Ireland, upon the moral of which it may tie worth your while in your leisure mu memc to reflect. If rigntly studied it will equally deter )0:1 twin any acts of illegal violence (let all the odium of that remain with your enemies), and on the other hand it will warn you against the dangers of unconstitutional pathVi or of implicit reliance on the wisdom and mo tives of the present directors of your destinies. Upiin this latter point (before I have done) a single word.— Nut only is the same system, which reduced Ireland to what sae is, at work upon England, but sonic of the identical men who gave her the death-blow, and who must inconsequence be impressed with a horrid Confi dence inthe powers of the sword, ate now enjoying rank and authoolty among you; after having exhibited such ta lents for truaic scenes upon a provincial theatre, they have now assumed the more ambitious task of drawing sighs and ;ears from an imperial audience. It may be wotth your while to remember ibis. It may be worth your while to ask youraeives, whit claims they can have upon your con&lence? Would you intrust your lives to the pretender whose noxious drugs had sent a bloater or a fsiend to the grave ? Between you and them what constitutional sympathies can subsist ? Lt whatever way the present contest may end, they feel Mire of their reward—what honourable interest then can they be supposed to take in the event? the same that the hovering culture takes its the lame of a fight—let the conflict terminate as it may he will hare his feast. Do you not perceive that in such men every feeling of country must be deed? iVhat sympathy did they slim fur their own, wri 7 eh they devoured, till its means of satiating their rapicity were exhausted—or can you for a moment doubt the ravageS they t have committed, or the motives of their emigration ? The very appearance or such birds of prey upon your shores, is the clearest prow that before they were (Irmo to roam abroad, the carcass THE NATIONAL, in which they hail fed at home must have been picked to a skeleton. Be not then so infatuated as to eelyon their patriotism and Oddity. They betrayed their origi nal duties—can they respect any new ones? They They have claimed and found the deserter's welcome— but are they to escape the deserter's fate, that of being for ever the objects of vigilance, suspicion, and con tempt ? " These remarks !in env view not unimportant, but such as they are) 1 offer to your consideration, TV me it appears that the warning our history holds unt, is at this moment entitled to your peculiar attention—that it should be received as the bOICIIIII communication of a departed friend to his survivor to reveal the designs of an enemy against his life. Perhaps 1 may err in my esti mate of your danger, but when I compare the past with the present, I cannot but tremble at what ispossible.— I have before my eyes the mournful spectacle of the hu miliation that may befal a once proud and generous nation. I know that it is asked among you, " what has become of the voice of Ireland? Is there to be no public expression of her sorrow or indignation at events which flit our breasts with anguish and alarm ?" Alas I to ask such a . question is to confess your ignorance of her continuo]. We are now in a state in which. on such a subject, silence is wisdom. We dare not provoke the retaliation which the display of any imprudent sympathy with you might bring down upon us. But do nut therefore imagine that we are looking on with heartless unconcern upon your struggles.— Were there nothing else than the late affront offered to one of the most respected of your nobility, that alone would have put the heart of every honest Irishman in motion. We do not forget that it was Lord Fitzwilliam who once came to us the messenger of peace and free dom. Ile would have humanized our councils—he would have checked the aggressiou of a despotic faction —he would have made the interests and rights of the subject the rule of his administration and therefore he was sacrificed. That an occasion should be taken of exacting from him a further expiation need no surprise ; as the friend of Ireland, lie owes a long atonement to the political hens of Mr. Pitt, which von may be certain was not overlooked by the advisers of his recent dismissal. Under these circumstances we should nut have been slow in tendering to such a man, and to the cause in which he is embarked, our homage and support. — Yet, though our tongues way be tied. our hopes and prayers are with that cause. Every rational mind in the country sees that its dearest interests are indissoluble blended with yours. We may have found ourselves bound to abstain from all interference in those particu lar plans of reform upon which your own opinions are divided ;—hut one deep persuasion is, that the lovers of a free constitution among you, by whatever name you may be called. are those to whom alone we can itt every emergency look up (or punt ctiott and redress. - NATIONAL GOOD. CTROW ♦ PAMP/IL ET JUST PUBLISHP.P.j -•••••m..- "As the desire of travelling and spending their time and property abroad has increased amongst the nobility and gentry—in the same degree has con tempt and neglect of the best interests of the nation manifested itself in their conduct. Why, therefore, should we suffer them to go on in their own way, without stating to them the real state and situation to which we are reduced ? It is most undoubtedly national *ood that ought to sway the proceedings of the principal men in the nation, inasmuch as the good they possess cannot be permanent without it. The language of many who spend their money abroad is, that what tlwy spend is their own ; but they should recollect the weight of suffering they cause by absenting themselves from the country. The following may serve to give them some idea of the effects produced by their absence, copied from a Provincial Paper:— " The demand for our own rasmateetwes has beet. diminished in no inconsiderable d.geee by The number of our gentry, who, bit, us it should seem, by what may be called the travelling iaranada, can only be cured by a dance over half Europe, or at least by a jig to Paris. I fear some of these bitten ones will, like the traveller of Shakspeare's Rosa lind, sell their own lands to see other men's; then to have seen much and to have nothing, is to have rich eyes and poor hands.' But if they should not sell their lands, by their absence they impoverish them, which is much the same thing; fur these gaping idlers take, according to a fair calculation, about twelve millions yearly out of our country, that is, about one-eighth of the whole income of Eng land. It has been calculated that forty thousand hands arc, by this wanton emigration, thrown out of employment in London alone. To export one eighth of the national income is to 3ubtract one eighth of the employment, by subtracting one-eighth of the demand—a grievous evil. But to forbid such emigration would be an invasion, it is said, td tl.e liberty of the subject, and these itinerants are suffi ciently rich and powerful to resist a tax on absentees, which would be must salutary. Could, however, the foolish rage for trav,lling and living in France for cheapness, be restrained, much of the lack anent:And fur our own manufactures would be undoubtedly removed by increased consumption.' " Thousands and tens of thousands are spent in mere gew-gaw 1101INCIISe—timvigi: toys, or rather perhaps, what is worse, foreign vice, and u. w fol lies—lace, silks, &c. &c. which are prohibited in this country, but which are sought after mud bought with ;ISTER. DtC. 5 avidity in France. When some of these spendthrifis return, we see all the showy colours of the butterfly displayed in females, and all the tricks and attitudes of a French barber are open to full view, by the ' dandy youths (or exquisites), Frenchified in prac. tim e and, I am afraid, in principle also. " Dr. Young, in 1744, said, As we are at war with the Power, it were well if we were at war with the manners of France. A land of levity is a land of guilt—a serious mind is the native soil of every virtue, and the single character that does true ho. noun to mankind. Bad the Doctor nary been living, what would have been his feelings on this subject?" .4MEnicAN PAPERS. BosToN, Nov. 5.—A Buenos Ayres Gazette of the 18th of August contains a decree, forbidding every European Spaniard to leave the country witl,.. out a special license, under the penalty of the confiscation of his property.—A regulation on t h e encouragement of privateers. All neutral vessels engaged in the service of the Government of Spain are to be considered as Spanish property ; privateers are to be allowed one half the value of Spanish yes eels of war and transports captured and sunk at sea, and 500 dollars for every cannon so taken. Prize.; brought into port shall be free of duty, and a bounty of 50 dollars allowed tbr every prisoner brought ia. Another decree prohibits the exportation of salt provisions and every species of grain. A private letter from Buenos Ayres, of the 14th August, states, that the recent change of Supreme Director has given much satisfaction. Dun Jose Rondeau now occupies that situation. Nothing was known of the situation of Coreia, other than a report that he had some time since dis appeared from his family and friends, who feared he was assassinated. The Curacua Carreto,' of October 2, says—" Ac. counts from Alaracaybo state, that the town of Ca. cuts, which is about three days' journey from the fimuer place, has been occupied by the Patriots, under Bolivar, who is said to be on his return from Santa Fe, havii.g left a strong force behind him to garrison that place. A great number of people had arrived at Maracaybo, with different articles of their effects, with which they fled, on the appearance of the Patriots, to Cucuta. Nov. 6.—By the arrival at Baltimore, on the 2d inst of the scummier Tenant, in 30 days, from Car. thagen.i, we team that Bolivar's army was within 20 miles of that city, and it was expected tnat place would fall. BALTIMORt, OCT. O. United States Bank Stock was un 'Thursday, at Philadelphia, 98 dollars offered, 99 asked, but, as usual, no sales. In New York 98} offered, 99 asked, no sales. Commodore tiogers has left New York for the Lakes. FROM TUESDAY NIGHT'S GAZETTE. BANKRUPTCY ENLARGED. G. Phillips, Argyle Street, Westminster, manufacturer in bronze, from Dec. 4 to Jan. h. BANKRUPTS. T. Abbott, Knaresborough, York, innkeeper. Solicitor, Mr Spence, Threadneedle Street. W. 1)obsort„ Newcastle upon Tyne, chemist. Sole. Messrs. Marriott, Brooksbank, and him. Gray's Inn Square. M. Match and J. Shute. Gosport, merchants. Sals. Mews. Dyne and Son, Lincoln's Inn Fields. J. Saunderson. Sutton, and T. Masters, Patton, Bedfordshire, corn factors. Sols. Messrs. Egan and Waterman, Essex Street, Strand. B. Clark. Birmingham, tarpauling maker. Sol. Mr. Ed munds. Lincoln's Inn. G. Wells, Suffolk, salesman. Sol. Mr. Nelson, Barnanl's Inn. .1. Goodkr, Knutsford. Cheshire, victualler. Sols. Messrs. Adlington and Gregory, Bedford How. 'l'. Hubbard, jun., Coventry, silknaan. Sols. Messrs. Wood cock and Twist, Coventry. .1. Lee. King Street, Cheapsitle. warehouseman. Sol. Mr. Tarren, 'Threadneedle Street. It. liolioyd, Halifax, Yotk, jeweller. Sohn Messrs. Morton and Williamson, Gray's ihn Square. J. Ilanco.:k, Lhiiehouse.llok Stain, mast maker. Sul. Mr. Shelton, Old Bailey. 11. Johnson, Waldron, Sussex, tanner. Sols. Messrs. Taimyr and France. &drool Row. .1. Bradley. Jesin Street, Cripplegate, silk manufacturer. Soh. Messrs. l'rice, Williams, and White, Lincoln's Inn. S. G .iod, Bures, Sufiblk, merchant. Sol. Mr. Nelson, Barnard's bin. P., P., .1. and B. Dixie, Falcon Square. Gowell Street- Road, smiths Sols. Messrs. Steven, and Wood, Little Saint Thomas Apostle. J. West. Tower Street, cotton broker. Solo. .Messrs. Hurd and Johnson, Teniple. W. Booth and 1. Brandon, Beech Street, Barbican, doh mer chants. Sul. Mr. Hamilton, Turista& Rost, Covent Garden. R. Myers, Newcastle upon 'Tyne, linen dreier. Sol. Mr. Hartley, New Bridge Street J.. J., and J. Alortimer, Elland, Yorkshire. worsted spinners. Sohn Messrs. Wrigiessurth and Creole,. Gray's Inn Square. DIVIDENDS. Dec. 11. T. D. Latham wet J. Parry, Devonshire Square, irwrehrius—i 4. R. Culhaw, K ing Street, I.anthern. brewer -21, W Padgett Vatic rut, Sio-rey. grucer-11, NI. and .1. Mar- Oonnell, ;Jul J. Bushel., Proud St.ett, on. rehants-21, G. Hews emmerogl Sale Hums, PHl3r Wok, r--21. G. Du Dom I.or.tku ontre..a.4-21, rt. li. Hunt, Gnat Yarmouth, and spirit merc.autt-41, W. itslph, I .esekr.or, (bawds/Um, farmer —2l, J. S. Bray. Coleman Street Buildings, merchant-28, J. Churchill, Suulhope Street, Chile 31arket, comma brewer.