The Sun. — London, England, 1822-03-23 00:00:00

statement of the causes that led to the formation of the Docks, a detail of the proceedings, shewing how effectually, they had answered the objects contemplated on their formation, by af fording to the merchant protection from the plunder, which had always existed to a great extent before their formation, and to the revenue the most ample security. In support of the inte rests of the Dock Company, the memorial travels into the Reports from 1798 onwards, selecting parts of those reports, and the evidence on which they were founded, and exhibiting state ments of the extent of accommodation provided beyond what was origitally proposed. This part of the case was elucidated by the following statement of the Stock on hand at one time, -compared with that for which provision was to be made by the -original plan Housed. Originally Excess. proposed. 40,000 56,769 23,500 47,575 433,648 10,000 19,158 s'Sussar (Casks and Chests)... 102,769 Coffee, Cocoa, and) . Casks 70,875 Pimento Rum and Wine (Casks) ... 35,158 Mahogany Logs) 14,021 Dye Woods (Tons) 21,663 After various other, arguments in support of their alleged claimS to the continuance, in a great measure, of those in dulgences which they enjoyed under the present Charter, r th, e Memorial concludes—" Your memorialists entreat the fullest investigation of the Company's case by your Lordships, confident that you will he satisfied with the adequacy of their docks Sr id warehouses for the accommodation of the West India Trade, for which they were originally formed ; with their se s curity as an integral part of the warehousing system ; with the advantages derived by the planter, the merchant, and the shiP-. owner; and, above all, with the peculiar benefits to the Reve-. nue, which result from the classifidation of so important ,a picir tion c the imports of the country ; and that your Lordships • feel the danger of putting to hazard all these advantages by any innovation ; never losing the recollection, that if a sys tem, which laborious application and long experience have brought,as nearly as may be to perfection, should, iddeference to speculative or interested views, be subverted, the utmost efforts of the legislature would, probably, be ineffectual to its restoration, although every party, even those who 'had contri buted to its overthrow, might bitterly regret its loss. And your :Memorialists," &c. The Petition was of the same purport as the Memorial. The Standing Committee, after having resolved to submit these papers to_ your consideration, further resolved that the Chairman should submit to this Meeting, that in the opinion'of the Committee, a Petition ought to be presented to the House Of Commons by, the West India Planters and Merchants, pray big for a fUll investigation of the Accounts of the West India Dock Company, and a revision of the clauses in the several Acts of Parliament made for regulating those Docks, previous to 'the passing of the Bill prayed for by the Dock Company. Mr. PaLmEn.—lt mighrbe expected that some Member of the Committee which had passed the resolutions which had been read by the Chairman, should place the grounds upon which that Committee had agreed to the resolutions in such a shape as would enable the Meeting to come to a fair and impartial opi nion. It was for .the purpose of performing that duty as a Member of the Committee that he should take the:liberty of saying a few words, and in doing so he must express his:regret that that duty had not fallen upon some person more competent to the important task—important whether con sidered as connected with a great public body, but more important when it was considered that the business upon which they had met would perhaps have the effect of deciding whether the connexion which had so long subsisted between the 'West India Planters and Merchants, and the West India Dock Company should or should not be dissolved. For the purpose of enabling the Meeting to decide upon that question, he should beg leave to submit the petition framed in support of the recommendation of the Committee, as a Member of which he ought, perhaps, to make a few observations, to induce the Meeting to act upon that recommendation ; but in the few ob servations which he should make, he begged to be considered as making them in the character of a "West India Planter. He did not now.mean to inquire whether, upon general principles of - political economy, the support or the destruction of a monopoly would be advisable. Indeed, he did not think it within the province of a meeting of "West India Planters, oppressed as they were by the pressure of the times, to take into consideration whether or not the destruction of a monopoly would hurt any other interests. He would say to them, a in God's name, take that assistance of which you stand so much in need, whether it be effected by a destruction of a monopoly, an advance in price for your commodities, or a diminution of charges and expense." He considered the present application a the Vest India Dock Company to be an application .to the West India Planters • and Merchants to co-operate with them in procuring the continuance of the compulsory causes, namely, that they the Planters and Merchants, must go exclusively to the West India , Docks. He was glad to see that that Company had thought _proper to make this appeal—he was glad. to'find that they had, thought it necessary to apply to an interest (which did not ap pear to him to make a prominent figure in their Memorial) in .seaport of their views. He thought that CoMpany had acted right. He did not speak with any false feelings of pride when La said that the true chance of a renewal of their Charter would be diminished; if not destroyed, without the co-operation of the West lndi body—that body whose, ancestors, to the amount 'of one hundred, had, as stated in the Meniorial, been most forward in procuring that Charter. He was glad now to see meeting of their successors—a meeting composed of up wards of two hundred, met to decide how far the expectations of their ancestors had been realized, and how far that Com pany which had been so supported had performed its duty. In considering 'this subject, the Committee had but three courses to pursue ; first, a decided negative to the applica tion ; secondly, an unqualified assent; and, thirdly, a middle "course—an investigation, into the transactions of the Com pany, and a revision of the various compulsory clauses-) 'in.the Acts of Parliament. The latter course they thought should be pursued before a dissent from or an assent to the application could be given. The Committee had notgiven a direct negative 'to the application, because in candour they could not but admit that many, of the advantages promised by this Company had been obtained ; and they also admitted that some advantages had been gained at a fair and reasonable price. —They were unwilling to give an unqualified assent, because they - were of opinion, that upon many grave and serious points an explanation was necessary. The Committee took this course ' ; And reserved to themselves the right of supporting or opposing ;the application of the Pock Company. Upon looking at the Acts of Parliament upon this subject, he was surprised at the great care which had been taken in these Acts of the interests of the Company. The utmost latitude was given to their conduct, but very little regard was paid to the interests of the West India body. The Committee had other reasons for wishing to suspend their judgment. In the first place, a suspension of judgment did not'shilt the door against 'acquiescence ; it rather opened the door in case arrangements should be made with the West India body. It was for - the purpose of promoting this acquiescence, that this opportunity had been given'—an opportunity of which he hoped the Company would avail themselves. The few state ments which'be should make would shew that the West India body ought tohave no connexion with the Dock Company until some explanation should havebeen even. If the petition which he should stibtnit should be agreed to, the opportunity of giving an explanation would not be lost. That explanation.whech he trusted would be given might be given before a Committee of the House of Commons. He trusted that' the West India Dock Company would not mistake moderation for forbearance, nor think the, West India body ignorant of their rights, or wanting in the means or the energy to enforce th'em.—(Hear, hear !) He had. Vertlittle more to do than to state the grounds of the suspension of the judgment of the Committee. It was known that, by Act of Parliament, the West India Deck Company *as to take a sum of 10 per cent. upon their original capital of one million two hundred thousand pounds out of all the rates, and after the expenses of management, the balance, if any, .tq be applied in the reduction ofthe rates, as far as existing cir s cumstances would admit. 'Now what did the Company do ? they first took their 10 per cent., and if the remainder of the rates Should not be equal to the payment of management, &c. the ar rents would fall upon the general West India Body ; but when after the money borrowed by that Company had been paid, the surplus of the rates, instead of being applied, as intended, to the reduction of the rates, had been expended in buildings.-( Hear.) —The Legislature had, in order to give the Proprietors still further an opportunity of knowing in what way the Directors had laid out the rates, directed that an annual account %should be laid before . the Houle, stating the amount of the rates—the expenditure and the alteration (if any) made in the rates or duties, made payable by thiS Act. .I'hese were not .only the words of the Act, but the words also of the interpreta tion of it given by a Committee of the House of Commons, which had been appointed ih 1810, in consequence of the Dock Company not having deduCted the ,Income Tax from their 10 per cent. dividend, and this Committee censured the Company for such a proceeding. That Conimitte stated that the applica tion of the capital of the Company was satisfactoly—that the -whole affairs had been carried on with attention and skill— that. a reduction of the rates had been made—that the excess of expenditure in that year was 26,0001., and that on the Ist February, 'lBlO, the balance in hands was 52,0001. He would beg the Meeting not to be deceived by the statement that the rates had been reduced—that signified nothing. The question was, had the rates been reduced to the extent to which they might have been reduced ? if the rates had- not . been so reduced, he had no hesitation in sating that they . ought to have been, and that in pro Portion to qlie difference between the actual and possible reduction the West India Planter was Plundered.—(Hear, hear, hear ! ) "What became of the statement, that this was a bargain between the Crown and the Company ? 'when it was stated in the Act thatilere,were two parties interested—the first was the sub scriber to the original capital, and the next, the public which I ought to enjoy these docks at low rates, after the payment of the incumbrances. He would not comment upon these words, but he would say that they clearly entitled the public to demand a fair and full investigation.—(H ear !)—ln 1810 the Committee of the House of Commons, in giving a reason for a reduction of the rates, had said th there was then a balance of 52,0001. If such a sum would, in the opinion of a committee of that House, entitle the West-- India - body to look for a reduction of rates, what reduction ought that body riow to demand, when the balance was 448,1481. 15. 3d.?—(Hear, hear !)=-The balance in hand, in 1810, had not been applied to any of the purposes of the Act, and, in 1813, the balance' amounted . to 207,0001. since which time it has accumulated , to an enormous amount. The Meeting must not imagine that all the balances were suf fered to remain unemployed. No, the Company were not 41'11 negligent of their Docks, upon which they had expended— For Works - - - £449,220 3 1 Repairs - • 365,916 5, 9 £815,136 8 10 So that in addition to their original capital of 1,200,0001., they had acquired another capital of 815,1301. All this might be, perhaps, explained ; but was it too much for a Body, like the West India BodY, labouring under great commercial distress, to ask for such an explanation ? If the West India Body went to the Governm4ent for relief, they were met by " public distress." If they asked to enhance the price of their goods, they were met by "_public interests," and yet such a Body ought not, in the opinions of some, to ask for an account of rates to which they had - as legal a right as the West. India Dock Coin pan'Y had to their freehold.—( Hear, hear !)--He must take this orporfunity of stating that the West.lndia Dock Company did give in annual returns to the Parliament ; but he would ask, did they do that which could be of any benefit to the West India Body—make an alteration in the duties or rates ? He was not now going into an investigation of the conduct,of the Company; he should wait until after their explanation ; but there was one strong point upon which he would put his finger, not for the purpose of complaining; but of giving the Company an oppor tunity of explanation. The point was this. The first com plaint made to the West India Dock Company, of the enor mous balance in their hands, had been made upwards of a year back, but notwithstanding this, the increase of balance during the last year was 35,0001. He held in his hand a summary of the accounts of • the Dock Company presented to Parliament, from which it appeared that the disbursements from the year 1804 up to 1822 were, for— Labourers and Messengers - .;£1,166,5!i0 9 3 Salaries - - 303,085 15 8 Donations and Gratuities - 25,086 8 10 Taxes - - - - - 333,047 8 6 Insurance against lare .- - - • 19,051 18 6 Stores ~. - - ' - - - 37 2 ,655 1 3 1 Works - - - - 449,220 3 1 Repairs . - - - 365,916 5 9 Losses and Abatements - - - - 67,949 19 10 Inc lental charges - - 76,745 7 5 Naval School - - • - - 12,259 18 5 Dividends - - - - 2,079,332 16 0 Total - - £5,330,912 .4 ,4 Such an expenditure ought certainly to be inquired into. He knew well enough, that the only tribunal to which they could appeal was the Parliament, and the body of Merchants and Planters was ready to go before a Committee ; but the Company was unwilling to join issue; He implored the meeting not to bind themselves hand and foot for another term of years, until after a full investigation of the accounts, and a revision of the Acts of Parliament. In one word, the object of the petition which he should propose for their adoption was, to suspend their opinion, negative or affirmative, with regard to the claim of the West India Dock Company, until after they should have re ceived that security for the future which would not only be com plete in'its nature, but reasonable in itself.--The Hon. Gen tleman then read the petition, which recited, in substance, that the West India Dock Company had very recently (2 - 2 d Feb.) presented a petition to the House of Commons, praying for leave to bring in a Bill for the' renewal of their Charter, in cluding the re-enactment of the compulsory clauses contained in the original Acts and Charter ; but which petition this In,eeting, by their petition now read, pray . may not be further entertained, until a full and entire investigation of the affairs and proceedings of the Dock Company, and a revision of the Acts of Parliament relative thereto, shall have taken place: , Mr. FULLER, in seconding the motion, said he could not see what objection any fair dealing man could have to shewing his accounts. if the accounts of the West India Dock Com pany bad been correctly kept, no danger could arise from sub miting them to strict investigation. Ald. ATKINS complimented the Hon. Mover on the hand some and liberal view which he had taken, and on his delicacy in abstaining from going into particulars previous to an expla nation. He was one of those who had opposed the original establishment of these Docks, but the feeling which actuated those who had come forward in support of the establishment of this Company, was a desire to give a degree of capability to the commerce of London. A few gentlemen had originally come forward, and stated the benefit which such an establishment would be to the revenue—waited upon Mr. Pitt, who, always anxious for the protection of the revenue, had coinciied with them in opinion ; and thus was this monopoly established, which he looked upon as disgraceful to the country. When he looked at the amount of the original capital of tie Company, and at the sums since expended in works, he thfught the pub lic, had behaved well to . the Company in allawing them to double their capital. He thought the Company had benefitted sufficiently by their lease, and that the public had been to them liberal in the extrenie. He would now appeal to all those ac quainted with the dock, to say, whether tiat liberality had been met by a correspondent liberality on the part of the Company ? With respect to the expedition in diszharging ships, he would say, that many had been in the docts upwards of three months, and had been then discharged at a period of the year in which the rate of insurance was doubled. He hoped that every one would view monopolies with disgust, and it was useless to say that any great energy would be employed where one part had not as much power to compel the performance of a duty as the other had to control it. It had happened to himself to have a vessel of 4 or 500 tons detained in the docks for three months, during which time he had presented a petition to the Treasury, which petition • was referred to the Attorney and So licitor-General, who gave it a's their opinion that the Directors had exercised a power which they did not legally possess. . Mr. Him :min' begged leave to return the Hon. Mover of the Petition his most hearty thanks for the liberality, fairness, and candour, with which he had brought forward this petition. In what he had to say he begged to understood as address ing thenrin the character of a West India Planter and Mer chant. He did not come there to advocate any claim of the West India Dock Company, unprOductive of benefit to the general body of West India Planters and Merchants. It was well known that he had become the first Chairman of the West India Dock Company, and that at that time the house with which he was connected possessed the means of housing ten thousand hogsheads of sugar—means not pos sessed by any other house, and means which procured for that house considerable business; but he, willing to check the plunder which then prevailed upon West India produce, had become most „active in promoting the formation of the 'West India Dock Company—he at the same time knowing that by the formation of such a Company his own individual im portance as a merchant must sink. After stating these facts, he certainly must take credit to himself for not consider ing any thing but the interest of the general body of West India Proprietors ; and it would depend much upon their own' conduct that day, whether or not those advantages which had been gained by the formation of the Dock Company would or would not. be destroyed. If what he had to say should not convince them that they had an interest in the mainten ance of ihe present system, : he begged them not to pay any at tention to him. , He must differ from' the Hon. Gentleman who had last- spoken as to the motives of the Gentleman who had first suggested the formation of a West India Dock Com pany. There had been a prevailing opinion of the incapability of accommodation in the Port of London, and there had been also a prevailing opinion of the necessity.of moving part of the trade out of the River, in consequence of the abuses in the West India trade; and so satisfied was the majority of the Merchants of London, that at a most respectable Meeting held in Nov. 1797, at the Merchant Seamens' office, upon the subject of improvements in the Port of London, a resloution was en tered into stating, that the improvements were good for a certain portion of trade ; but that with reference to the West India trade, they were totally useless.. The formation of a Canal from Blackwall to London was then resolved upon, and of two Wet Docks exclusively for the West India Trade.— He had sacrficed individual interest in'the promotion of this establishment, and he had differed from many to act in unison with whom he, had always considered a pleasure, and to differ with whom, would have given pain to any candid mind ; but he was happy to say, that most of those with whom he had then differed had since changed their opinion, and had declared their conviction of the utility of such an establishment. He would ask - 111r. Manning, Mr. , Long, and the son of Mr. Turner; all of whom had then differed with him \ if they had not'since ex pressd their conviction that the removal of the West India trade to the-Isle of Dogs had been productive of great benefit. With respect •to monopolies, he would only say, that a mo nopoly was not necessarily odious. If, by a monopoly, care was taken of the property of individuals, that monopoly would not be considered odious. Monopoly would do what competition would not do. He would take the competition of the Water Companies, and he believed he might say, with out contradiction, that the inhabitants of London would be bet ter pleased by the passing of an Act of Parliament compelling all persons to pay to one Company a certain sum for a sufh.. cient supply of water, than by the passing of an Act which would extend the present competition, because, in the first in stance, a sufficient supply of water could be always procured, which was not the case since the establiShment of an extensive competition. Previous to the formation of the West India Docks; the trade of the,port of London might be compared .to a city, the greater , portion of whose inhabitants was afflictedhvith a contagious disease. In the latter case the remedy proposed would be to build'an hopital, 'every door, ward, and chamber of which should be calculated for the cure of.the disorder; and this being done,he would ask, could it be termed severity to compel the diseased to go into tl is hospital instead of suffering him to go at large ?"So it was with the n est India Trade of Lonflon. The abuses in it were so great, as to render the carrying of it on in i r the same place with other trades highly detrimental to the gene ral coMmereialhaterests ;, and it Was this, and-this alone, which had induced Mr. Pitt to agree to the formation of these Docks. What, he would ask, nad occurred since, to render a re currence to the former system less dangerous ? Were peo ple more 'honest ? Was fraud less ingenious ? Were.ships more undet the' controul of merchants? He had no wish to return to the former 'system of plunder—he did not mean to say that it would,retura to as great an extent as in former times, but it would open a door for the destruction of that sys tem which had done away with the evil ; and if that system were suffered to expire, it would be impossible to revive it again. He knew he might be asked, would you have. the West India Body give an unqualified assent ?.No, he stood there to carry into effect the 'Resolutions of the Standing Committee ; but there was a manner of doing it which must not be overlooked. The question was not now whether a measure was to be renewed, but whether a new measure vas to be adopted ? He knew well that unless the West India Bcdy asked the House of Commons for le renewal of the Bill, that the establishment must fall, because the basis upon, which it rested was its merits, and of these merits no persons could judge so well as the 'West India Body. He would admit, that there had been a quarrel, which he would call a family,quarrel, but the results of which; he hoped, would not be similar, because in all family quarrels, the members of the family generally repented, and astranger generallyderived profit from the circumstance. If he lead contributed to the irrita tion which pervaded the whole of the petition, he was sorry for it, and he should be uneasy during the remainder of his life, if he thought that he had contributed to that alienation which pervaded the petition. It had been his intention to propose a petition - containing nothing different from the petition which had been moved, except a trust on the part of the meeting that the House of Commons would • consider whether any better mode of conducting the West India trade could . be devised. He was satisfied that explanations could he given with regard to the sums expended in repairs. The Honourable Gentle man had stated that the original capital had been 1,200,0001. ; but the Honourable Gentleman ought to shave stated, that the accommodation erected by that sum had not been , more than sufficient for half the coffee and Sugar, and one third of the wine. The conquered Colonies, and the de preciation of price, had even an_ increase. of trade to this Company, and rendered it necessary to expend large sums in the erection 'of buildings. No man couldsay that the. Company might not .at any time be called upon to expend 400,0001., as they were bound to procire accommodation for all persons in , the West India trade. In his opinion, there would be greater ground for complaint if the Company, had not expended this money and had neglected te provide proper accommodation for the trade. The Hon. Gentleman seemed to think nothing, but he• (Mr. H.) could assure that Hon. Gentleman that the re ductions had been considerable. 'With respect to the increase of 35,0001. during the last year, hes,would merely say, that it had arisen from an increase in the price of stocks, and that there was an actualaccumulation. tie should not now submit the draft of the petition which he bad prepared ; but when a Committee should have been appointed; he. would move an in struction to the Committee to confer upon the subject with 'a Committee appointed by the West India Dock company,, Mr. CARRINGTON (Bariadoes), said he was surprised, after what had fallen from the Hon. Chairman, and the Hon. Mover, 'that the Gentleman who' hid last spoken had not observed the same wise - course ' • and had-not abstained from going into par ticulars. If that Hon:Gentleman had done so, and had'not en tered into particulars in exculpation of a Company, against which no charge had been made, he (Mr. C ) would not have felt the necessity of trespassing upon the time of the'Mceting.. On the propriety of the Petition,and in all which-had fallen from the Hon. Mover, he eutioely agreed, and when he now noticed the observations of the last lion. Gentleman, he did not do so in consequence of their importance, but in consequence of the quarter from whence they came. He was surprised to hear such sentiments delivered by a person, the agent for the largest of the West India Islands, and.a person who had a chief and directing influencd in the West India Dock Company. He was not there to examine into the motives of Hon. Gentle men—he was there to look at the effects produced by these mea sures—he was there to look at the securities afforded by the four Acts of Parliament to the West India Body—he saw that se curity only in a few lines. The whole question here was, did the Parliament mean that a reduction of rates should take place after the proceeds in the hands of the Company should enable, them to do so ? That this was the meaning of the act might be collected from the interpretation Of the Legislature, in the Re port of the Committee of 1810. He denied that this reduction had been made to any extent, he deprecated the profuse expen-• diture of the country—he did not see why this Company which had not contributed one shilling out of the ten per cent. should give such large sums to Waterloo Subscriptions—to Ladies' Schools—and to Bible Societies. He did not see why they should raise a regiment at the expence of the West India Body without asking their consent—he did not object to the institu tions for which' they had contribUted so largely, but he ob jected to the principle of subscribing to any institution without the consent of the owners of the property. He supported the petition, and should be much surprised if the Hen. Member, the' Agent of Jamaica, submitted a petition, - the reading of which he (Mr. C.) should feel it his duty to oppose. Mr. LIT a` said, he was most anxious to have the accounts of the Dock Company investigated, but he begged Gentlemen not to be so blind to their own interests as wantonly to subject again the ''Vest India, trade to that disgraceful plunder which hc so well remembered. —,r. HIBBERT explained. Mr. M r. Irrams said, want of accommodation in other docks for the West India shipping need not to influence Hon. Gentle men, because he, as one of the London Dock Company, would undertake, in six months, to warehouse 20,000 hogsheads of sugar, and iinsix months afterwards 30,000 hogsheads more.— The obstruction to navigation need to be no excuse, because he knew'a vessel which, might have come into the London Docks, to have been three days outside the "West India Docks for want of water. In the London IJocks property was as well protected as in the West India Docks. , • • Mr. TURNER said, that his father, who had been one of those opposed to the establishment of the West India Docks, had afterwards confessed that theerhad been productive of much advantage to the West Indi4 Trade. He was himself a convert to 'the opinion which had been opposed by his . house ; and he did not think the public ought to allow the West India Company to turn to whatever use they pleased Docks upon which they had expended 800,0801. of the public money above their original capital. He thought the public had an interest in these Docks which 'they ought not' to give up.—He should movh as an amendment to the petition "'that the petitioners agreed to a renewal of the Charter, but earnestly prayed for such an investigation as would in future prevent excessive charges."_ After some observations from Mr. HIBBERT, this amend ment was withdrawn, and the petition put and mined. It was then put and carried that Mr. Palmer do present the petition to the House of Commons. • _ A long and desultory conversation then took place. on • the wording of two resolutions relative to the further proceedings in this case (in which the Chairman, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Marryat, Mr. Alderman Atkins, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Carrington, took a part), arising out of the confliction of interests in the Standing Committee on this question ; when it was finally resolved, that the Standing Committee should watch over the progress of the proceedings, with instructions to confer with the Directors of the Dock Company, or any Committee appointed by them on the subject —Thanks were voted to Mr. Hibbert, for his ser vices, ad interinz, as Treasurer, vacant by the death of Mr. Beeston Long, the he was unanimously elected to that office. The thanks of tlie meeting were alsounammously voted to Mr. Ellis, the Chairman, for his valuable services, when the meet ing adjourned. The trade in the manufacturing districts in England is unprecedently brisk. All hands are more busily employed than usual. The quantity of goods which are brought forward exceed any thing ever before known ; and the moment they 'are manufactured, and produced in the market, they are bought up and carried off for home and foreign markets. In this city, also, we learn, that the export trade is great. We are in formed by'Excise Export Officers, that they have not been so busily and urgently employed for several years as during the last three weeks. The river at the Broomielaw is unusually crowd ed with shipping, busily employed loading • and undloading. Many of these are =Vessels of con siderable burden, from foreign countries ; and such as, 20 years ago, the citizen§ of Glasgow could not possibly have dreamed would have been seen at the port of this city.--(Glasgov; Courier.) The French Papers of Wednesday, Brussels Journals to the 19th, and German Papers to the 16th instant, have arrived since our last. It ap pears by the following extracts that the com mencement of hostilities is considered not far distant ; and that the object of M. DE TATITT SCIIEF?s mission to Vienna from the Court of Pe tersburgh is to . demand a categorical avowal from the Austrian Cabinet of the course of po licy it proposes to adopt on the occurrence of that event. " FR ANKFORT,AIARCH 14.—The Court Gazette of St. Petersburgh, in its Numbers of the ,18th and 22d'of January, published certain articles from Odessa, which first appeared in the Allge- Zeitang of Augsburg, and which were afterwards circumstantially refuted in the Vienna Journals. It is worthy of remark, that ,the Russian ,Gazette, while it publighes these news, has not inserted any of the articles of the Austrian Oserver, which are always in favour of the Turks.--A corps of 8,000 men, forming the van of the•great Turkish army, which is on its march from Cnnstantinople, has arrived at Braila. This news has been brought to Odessa by an Extra ordinary Courier. (Extract of a Private Letter.)—" A report is spread to-day (the 14th) on 'Change, that a com munication of the highest importance has been made to the Austrian Cabinet by the Minister of Russia at Vienna. It was added that the negocia tion relative to the affairs of Turkey had been broken off, and that the Cabinet of St. Peters burgh had definitively deClared war against the Ottoman Porte.—lt has been said that Count 'Buol Schauenstein, the, Austrian Minister and President of the Germanic Diet, had proposed to call out several corps of troops, in order to make the system of Armed Neutrality adopied by the Confederation respected. We can affirm that at least this statement- is wholly unfounded, — Two delegates of the. military Committee of the Diet, Baron de NVogant and Mr. Eberle, officers of the staff of the Austrian Army, who bad been sent to Luxemburg and Rastadt, have returned to Frankfort. The first was charged to examine the, fortifications of Luxemburg, which will be considerably augmented ; the second has made a report on the difficulties there would be in erect ing a fortress at Rastadt, as was proposed. It seems certain that this design will be renounced." AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, MA acts 15.—(Extract of a Private Letter.)—" The last letters received at Berlin fromWTarsaw are not of a pacific nature. The reports of war are renewed with more confidence than ever in the capital of Poland. News had been received there, which announced, in the most positive manner, that the movements of the. Russian armies on the Pruth and Danube were" very decidedly assuming an offensive character. The most important military dispositions were making in Bessarabia, and the speedy entrance , of the Russians into Moldavia and NValachia was expected. The 'Auks, on their side, were pre paring vigorously to repel this first shock, and were receiving daily reinforcements. At Jassy, the speedy arrival of the Grand Vizier was spoken of, with 100,000 men ; these are pro bably the troops which have marched from Con stantinople, and which will therefore have ad vanced in a very short time over a distance of 82 leagues.. .A Manifesto of the Court of Berlin is spoken of,' proclaiming its neutrality in the events which are oil the eve of taking place. It is said that this system must be supported by a considerable arthy, which will take up its caw tonments in the extreme position of the Grand Duchy of Posen." PARIS, MARCH 20.—The Count de Balmair, Aid-de-Camp to the Emperor of Russia, arrived at Paris yesterday. It is said that in the note transmitted to the Court of Vienna, by M. de Tatittschef, requiring the Austrian Cabinet to explain peremptorily the system of conduct it purposes to adopt, in case of a war, the Emperor Alexander declares that he is determined to support the cause of the Greeks. The stay of, M. de Tatittschef at Vienna is ex.t,: , pected to be of short duration. We learn from Odessa, under date the 26th of February, that for the' last three weeks the con tractors have purchased very large supplies for the Russian armies. A naval, expedition is pre paring at Rikolajew, on board of which a con siderable number of troops will be embarked. The four strangers who were arrested on Sun day, and of whom we spoke in our Paper of yes terday, were not set at liberty till yesterday morning. According to another account of the event which we mentioned yesterday, it took place at Coucy, near Laon. It was to that little town that abotit fifty insurgents advanced,while others sounded the tocsin at Coucy, and traversed the streets and markets uttering seditious cries. It is added, that three of them have been arrested by the National Guard, and that the others had taken flight and disappeared in the woods. As the official Journal gives no details of these events, we must wait for more exact information.. We learn by the Journal of Niort, that the search we Mentioned yesterday to discover Ge neral Berton was made in the woods of La. Meillerage, situated on the road from Parthenay to St. Maixent, and some others. The search was in vain,, and it is thought that Berton has quitted this country. Letters quoted by. the Oracle of Brussels say that Berton has been seen with some of his ad herents near Rennes. The Journal of 'that city does not mention the circumstance. FRENCH FUNDS. March 19, Five per Cents Bank Stock FRONTIERS OF ITALY, MARCH 4.—We corn municate the' following particulars from a letfer from Salonichi, of the middle of February,which are, indeed, at variance with other previous ac counts. Macedonia is entirely tranquillised, and the authority of the Porte recognised there :-- " The armed bandg which collected on the Frontier's after the last insurrection have re tired partly to Thessaly, and partly to Livadia, where they have reinforced the Greek corps, which have made considerable progress.—At Sa lonichi itself, the most profound tranquillity had for some time prevailed. The Franks enjoyed all possible protection, and the Greeks bad not been molested for some time past. Some differ ences had arisen between the Commanders at Salonichi and Seres, but it appeared not - to have any serious consequences. Three or four thousand Turks are near Cassandra, ready to repair on the first signal to the coast, where their presence may be required, because ,the Greeks in the neighbouring islands have been reinforced, and threatety to make a landing.--- A part of Cassandra has been destroyed by fire; the remaining parts of the city are desolate, and there are scarcely 300 persons remaining of those who were settled there last year.—The Governor of Salonichi had announced that he shortly ex pected a Turkish squadron in the harbour, and that he had received this news from Constanti" nople. This squadron is said to be a division of the Turkish fleet which has been fitted out in th , e , arsenal of Constantinople and in the Dardanelles. BRUNN, MARCH 2.—Prince Michael Suzzo ha; met with difficulties on his way to Leghorn, an' is now here. It is said that our Government/ which does not, allow any Greek to go to Greece , has assigded him Gorizia as his residence, whithe, r he will set out in a few days, but not pass throng Vienna. BRUSSELS, MARCH 17.—From the report o f f the proceedings of the second Chamber of t b ., States-General, it appears that several petitions THE QUARTERLY REVIEW, No. LII. will be published on SATURDAY NEXT. CONTENTS._ -1. DOBRIZHOFFEK—Aceount of, the ABIPONES.— 11. Bishop of St. David's Vindication of I John, v. 7. HI. , KOTZERUE, Voyage of I)isciverv.—lV. Memoirs of a Life passed in Pennsylvania.- 7 V: BUCKINGHAM'S Travels in Palestine.—Vl. Insttul:tion of the Deaf and Dumb.— VII. Memoires do Doc de Lattzun,LVlD. WESTERN CA LEDONIA.-IX. State of %%TIGHTS and . MEASURES.— X. MinnoirS of the KIT-CAT CLUB.—XI. K ER PORTER— Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c.—XII. The PIRATE. by the Author of WAVERLEY.—XIII. DUGALD STEWART'S Second Dissertation.— XIV. MACIT-BRUN'S Spuriops Voyages.-IV. COLONIAL POLICY. Printed . for JOHN Mu !MAY, Albemarle-street, Lmulon. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Venetic, 22° die Marta, 1822. EDINBURGH PUBLIC GARDENS—Petition for Bill reported, andßill ordered to be brought in on or before Wednesday. GAS LlGHT—Leith PAT 'NG—Sommers Town, and Chelms ford INCLOSITnEs--TauntonDeane (Somer- Bills read a second time, & committed. set, and Dinton(Wilts) CARNATIC CREDITORS TAY FERRIES ROADs—Evesham (Petition of the Dean and Chapter of . Wes tminster, against, referred, Counsel ordered), Burford and Preston, Glasgow and Irichbelly, Dudbridge, &c. Tetbury, &c., and Shaftesbury and Sherborne--read a second time 1 and committed. Chester and Whitchurch, and Chapel Bar— reported, to be ingrosesd. BRIDGES—LittIe Hampton—Petition of Commissioners of Lit , tlehampton. Harbour ; also,. of Mayor.; &c. of Arundel; against, to lie on the table till second reading. Deritend,— reported, to be ingrossed. FOREIGN TRADE—Petition of West India Dock' Company (prevented 22d February), referred to a Committee. Cori's° LI ua Pu ND—Annual Account presented; to lie on the table, and to be printed. PERMANENT TAXES—Annual Account presented ; to lie on the table, and to be printed. TURNPIKE LAWS AMENDMENT BlLL—considered in Com mittee, and reported ; further consideration of Report on Monday'; Bill to be printed, as amended. AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS—Petition from the Hundred of Norman `Cross, to lie on the table, and to be printed. ROYAL BUnOns ACCOUNTS BlLL—second reading deferred till Thursday.. • • • - 'WEST INDIA ISLANDS—Add:ECSS for "Return of. Persons holding the office' of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the. several Leeward or Charibbee Islands, also of the other 'West India Islands, Colonies, and Settlernents ; together , with their Salaries, ees, and other emoluments, respective ly ; distinguishingthe amount of salary payable to each from, the Crown, from the amount of salary, fees, and other emo luments, held at 'the pleasure of the Assemblies' of those Isldnds ; distinguishing also payments in currency from ster ling." BRISTOL DOCKS BlLL—Petition of Dean and Chapter of Bristol, against, referred to the Committee ; Counsel or dered. Dulzizx (TAxxrioN)—Mr. Richard Wellesley added to the Committee. • • ORDEII 4 S of the DAY, for MONDAY. • 1. Attornies and Solicitors Regulation Bill--Third Reading. 2. Turnpike Laws Amendment Bill—Further Consideration of Report. 3. Supply—COmmittee. 4. Ways and Means—Committee. 5.. Superannuation Act Amendment Bill—Committee. 6. Receivers of Stolen Securities Bill—Report. 7. FeVer Hospital (Dublin) Bill—Report. 8. Commercial Credit (Ireland) Act-:-Committee thereupon. NOTICES OF MOTIONS, for MONDAY. The Lord Advocate of Scotldnd,—Bill for abolition of In ferior Commissaries, and the better regulation of the.Com inissaries Court of Edinburgh, and the Sheriff and Stewarts . _ Courts in Scotland. 2. The Lord Advocate of Scotland,—Bill to continue the Bank rupt. Act, Scotland. 3. Mr. Ward,—Ordnance Estimates. (In Committee of Supply.) 4. Lord Viscount Palmeriton,—Grant for Ophthalmic Hospi- .. .......__ ........ _ tal.. (In Committee of Supply.) ' a ' • - PRIVATE BlLLS—Second Readings, for MONDAY. I. Lower Mitton Inclosure 4. Northampton Roads 2. Bishop's Castle Road 5. Bristol Poor 3. Reading Roads 6. Lanark & Glasgow Bridewell PUBLIC COMMITTEES, for MONDAY MORNING. L Agriculture, at one. • 13. Prisons, at one.• . 2. Dublin (Taxation), at one. I 4. Foreign Trade, at one. TO CORRESPONDENTS. Ariicus, Senior, is received, and we thank him. for his sug- gestions. ERRATUM. in the Article on Agricultural Distress, in THE SUN of Thursday, towards the end, for " cannot for a mo ment in supported," read " month." PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Bank Stock shut 3 per Cent. Red. shut 3 per Cent. Cons. B°3ii 3i per Cent shut 4 per Cent. shut 5 per Cent. Navy An. 104 10313 India Bonds 495., 51s. Excheq. Bills .3 42 3 pr. Cons. for Account m HIGH WA T ER AT LONDO. Morning. 24 minutes after 2. , NBRIDGE TO-MORROW. 1 Evening, 4R minutes after 2. THE SUN. -----=---- BOLEN QUIS• DICERS FALSUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1822.