The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-05-13 00:00:00

ASSESSED TAXES.

Mr. WHITMORE )resented a petition from the inhabitants of
Bridgenorth, praying for a reduction of the assessed tuxes.
A petition was presented from the inhabitants of I►undalk, pray-
ing to have their charter, a* granted in the reign of Henry V 111. the
operating charter.—To he printed.
Mr. e. PELHAM presented a petition from the tanners and
others of Halifax, against the Hideo. and Skins' MIL
Mr. Ikteli !MKT presented a petition from the Magistrates of
Cheltenham against the Beer Bill.

Mr. It. P.ait:T presented a petition from the borough of Con-
Way against the COMB ay Road Mill.
Mr. RT EIS presented a petition from a certain pariah in Sus-
sea against the Wan:htmsing Corn lid!.
Mr. 1,1 N DSA Y presented a petition from Cups, against the
Beer Bill—flrdeted to be printed.
Mr. S. WORTLEY presented a petition from the licensed irk-
tuallers of Halifax against the Excise Licences ; also from the tan-
ners and currier,. of llowtlen, against the Hides and Skins Hill ;
also front the common brewer, of the %Vest Hiding of York, against
the same Bill.

f'ol •I PORDE presented a petition from the Freemason of
Porto spry, in Ireland. praying to be placed on the same footing as
their brethren in England.
colonel PA1.311:11 presented a petition from the tradermen of
Bath against the Bristol Duties.—Ordered to 1w printed.
3I r. J. ILLIA 3IS presented a petition from the inhabitants
of Preston against the l'ombination Lana._l/rilered to be printed.
Mr. J. 111 EItTV presented a petition from the inhabitants of
New Boss against negro slavery.
A message from the Lords announced their Lordships' agreement
to several public and private Bills.
3lr. S. ►t'( /1111.1..1. brought up the Report of the Leeds Bowl
Bill. which was agreed to.
Mr. (I'IITEIS obtained leave to bring in a Bill relative to the
pnriNlt settlement of staining apptentiecs, which was read a first
nine

The teller Orders of the lhy were then disposed of, and the
!louse adjourned at half. paxt six o'clock.

N(►TI(Es (►F MOTIONS TDIS DAY.

Mr. Wolryehe %Vhitniore—Disa back paid on the Exportation
of soot..
Sir henry Pamell—Address to gire erect to the recommenda-
tions of the Co. 1111 l ince on Holyhead steam Packet•.
Mr. Jone.--emmitittee of the whole House on Salaries and An.
twilit.. to 11.r1.11 Judges.
Mr. ll'odeliouse (of Norfolk)—Continuance of the present Salt
Duties.

_ •
Mr. Martin (of Galway)--To increase the Salaries annexed to
the Great /fliecra of State, anti to high Judicial Situations of the
Country, Igo as to render them more adequate to the Labour and int-
port ance of the duties to be discharged, and more worthy of the jut•
tier and liberality of the Nation.
Mr. Stuart (Vortley—Petitioo from Clerks in Public Offices,
concerning the Reduction of Fite per Cent, front their Salaries.
Mr. Powell Itiixtnn--.ltuount of Stamp Ilutia, on Marine In-
surmecs, for three years.
Olt ItERS OF THE HAY.
11-aretionwsi Wheat Rill—Second Reading.
has Stamps Repeal Hill—Report.
lntbhn Small 1),M% Ilill—Secund Rattling.
Parochial Stipends (Scotland) Act, lb° Geo. 111. e. 84.) Com-
heather I /odes, fke.. (Ifektml)-4'ommittee.
Cbutity I ourts Rill (Compensation to the Town Clerk of Corn.'
bridge)—Committee.
I'aasagr Ve..ell Regulation Rill—Third Reading.
l'ivinooth Victualling Office Refuting.
Chelsea and Greenerich Hospital. Bill—Commities.

NEIV TIIEATRE ROKII„ DRIIIII-LANE.
Tido F.rculog, THURSDAY, Ally 13. will be performed
ARTAXEIIALS.
Artaxerieo. alwiatue Watt it s Artifices, Miss COW: .%rtabanes, Mr.
Horn. Wanda:ie, Miss Stenhrue; %emirs. Miss I•ocey.
After which, DE if AS A Ric.T.
Tristram Nappy, Mr. I.lston.
To conclude with
ZOROASTER s or, THE SPIRIT tW THE STAR.
To-morrow, Rob Roy liseKreg..r, rind Zoroaster.

THEATRE ROYAL, COVkNT-G.!RDE.V.

Thla EveninK. TII ' Mai) V. May w 111 prrfornird the Find Part of

"tilNi";:iiiiSiii‘'.7rifti i'l;iiiTti„.

King ',vary the Vottrth, Mr. %gen.,' ; Prince of Wales, Mr. Cooper:
Ilotapur, Mr. Young; fiir John Falsta:f. Mr. Kemple : Pohl.. Mr.
Farley; Franck, Mr. Illatiehard. Lady Percy, Mies li. Kelly;
Metres, Mrs. Davenport.

To conclude with
11.%111.

The Duke Vivaldi, 111 r. Abbottlit4li ;; ;; , Mr. Faweett; Clint Mu
M. Trees Votpina. Miss Uwe.
To-morrow, l'rlde shall 'lave a Fall. and The Spirits of the Moon.

TIIEATEE ROYAL, EM;LISII OPERA-HOUSE.
MR. MATHEWS AT Ili 'ME !
This Evening, THUR.4II%V. Nay 13,
With big ANNUAL LECTURE. on PE.Cll.l‘ititixs, riiARAcTER,
and MAN N Ells
Founded on Observatiousaad Adventures during his late
TRIP TO tMERIC.t.
In Three Parts.
PART M polyligrue, railed ALI. 1% ELI. AT NATCIIITOC'HES.
All the Characters of the Evenhatrit Entertai 111 l tent to be represented
by Mr M %TIIEWs.
Doors to be opened at Set eti—Perforinsnee begins at Eight "'Clock.
Hoses to be taken of Mr. Stevenson, at the box Office, strand En-
trance, from Ten till Five.
Places cannot possibly be kept after half-past Eight o'clock.

I.‘sT NIGH Rl' r oNk.

ADELPHI THEATRE. STRAND.
BRILLIANT SUCCESS!!!

N. HENRY'S SPLENPIP SPECTACLE ..f uncommon, ILLUSIONS.

—...—..... . . . .....
'FR %%sit M %Tito's. he. F: X PERI hi EN TS 011 ,
Amongst which the extraordinary Laughing Gas, Musical Glasses,
de., being completely established
In piddle (-401111[1.m. wilt be repeated
This Evening. TI11;11141) %V. May GI. and k %TEMP% V, ran
In addition to the Portrait, 01 Miami. M. Tree. Stephens, and Paton.
Me Ks. maeready. Voting. Kean, nial Grimaldi, will be introduced
striking Likenesses of king Henry %111. Anita Sullen, and Queen Ell.
zaheth.

Boxes. 4w. Plt. 44. Gallery. IL.
rionrs open at lialf.pust Six and begin at Seven; [lair-Price at half-
paid Eight.

The BRIT ISM Perm commenced publi•Ming yesterday morning
at half-past eight o'clock.

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 13, isfi.

Monday and Tuesday's French Papers reached our
office yesterday, by express ; ample extracts from them
will be found in our columns.

After all the misery which has been inflicted en Irelard
for so many centuries—after she has been made to en.
counter persecution in every form, and exactions in every
shape—and when, combined with all this, Great Britain
has been boastfully holding up her Constitution, her laws,
and her liberties, to the admiration of mankind, and
pouring out the blood of Ireland and of England, to de-
fend these invaluable possessions against the wild theories
of republican France, when khosr theories struck terror
into every State of Europe ;—after all this, it is truly piT-
plexim.• to be told, as in the debate on Lord Althorp's
motion on Tuesday evening we were told, that the country
was averse to the emancipation of the Catholics; and
though there was no doubt but that it would ultimately
arrive, " still that would not be until the feelings of the
nation had ripened towards it more favourably." We
have great respect for the talents of Mr. CA s N I NG, but
our respect is still greater for the character of the country,
and we arc therefore very slow to believe that this account
of us is just. We think too highly of the Foreign Se-
cretary, to believe that he really forms this estimate of
British liberality and of British justice. We cannot
believe him serious, in thinking that the Constitu-
tion of the ITniterl Empire is too weak for the protec-
tion of its subjects, or that Parliament, in which the
reasoning power of the country resides, is frustrated in its
wishes to be just, by the strong leaning towards extortion
and intolerance, which prevails in the great body of the
people of England. We cannot admit this charge against
them to be well founded ; it would he grievous, indeed, if
it were ; for as it must always be impossible to ascertain
the time when it ceases to apply, it may be made a pretext
for acting on the present system without mitigation and
without end. Our Catholic fellow-subject has no chance
of bettering his condition ; his oppression inuo remain

without remedy, and his poverty continue without hope.
Naked he came into the world, and naked he must go out
of it, if this reasoning is to prevail. But let theftw lead-
ing families that reign in Ireland once resolve to extend to
their fellow-countrymen the practical blessings of the
British Government, and elevate thentsrlers above the
mean and iniebievous ascendancy of Reef and
.fitelicn ;
and the result will soon shew that the blame of Ireland's,
Odegradation does not rest with any remnant of bigotry or
prejudice with which we of this kingdom are imbued.'
Let the conciliating and consi►tent policy of the Ala Routs
IVL I.l.Est Ly be cordially suppolcil by those whose whole
efforts are employed to counteract it: and then, if the public
feeling of the Nation so upholds this monopoly of property
and power that the claims of justice cannot stand against
it, the experiment will have been tried, and Parliament
will stand excused. But till this experiment has been
made, no Statesman is justified in laying the abuses of
Ireland at our door, and scoring up the perpetuation of
its tyranny to the besotted and stubborn zeal which per-
vades us on this side of the water. As to the present
union of the Protestant Leaders for the improvement of
Ireland, it is

A union--deric'd from pelf,
‘{'here each contributes his whole labour,
Ard, working only for Kimsey;
Leaves his crimgements to his neighbour.
Like those machines, absurd and puzzling,
Where no one spring cont.ols the rest,
All independent, and all bustling,
As if they acted for the best.

Bat the true condition of Inland, and the true scat of
all its disorders, is becoming every day more clearly de-
veloped; and it will he impossible for the Orange Leaders
to hold out much longer against the progress of know-
ledge :
The battle is not to the strong,
Nor to the swift of foot the race;
But time and chance to ell belong,
\Whether they in or ont of place.

The work of violence is again commencing in the Ca-
tholic Association of Dublin, since the return of the,
" Lawyers" from their circuits. In their absence therei
was a respite from declamation and folly for some weeks;
and Mr. Conway, who acted as Secretary, with a few
sensible men about him, was quietly, but effectually,
doing the Lusineas of the Catholics, and effecting morel
real good than had been done for years before. But this
quiet conduct of business would not content the " exalts-
dos" of that body, or procure Mem the notoriety which
is their only object. Accordingly, at the last " May-day"
Meeting, all Mr. O'Counell's flowers of eloquence were
again in full bloom. While proposing Mr. George Ensor
as a member of the Association, and handing in the Ra-
dical Reformer's guinea as his admission fee, Mr. O'Connell
eulogised the northern Seer, whose pen is just as ceaseless
as the Irish agitator's tongue; for both agree at least in
one faith and one principle, that of ceaseless discontent
and clamour, anal eternal vituperation and abuse of the
enlightened and impartial government of the Marquis
Wellesley. Mr. Ensor is always wilting some heavy thing
or the other ; few read and none remember what he writes:
all subjects arc alike to him—statistical, political, or re-
ligious. Unfortunately, every thing coming from him as
yet has fallen dead-born from the press ; a single tpro-
duction from his unwearied pen has scarcely lived a day :
but he reads his endless essays himself, and has the in-
dulgence of self-applause, and he is satisfied. The old
subject of Parliamentary Reform having grown completely
threadbare in his hands, though he turned it in all manner
of ways, the gallant Major took latterly to finding fault
with the policy and measures of the Irish Viceroy, and
published a series of dull letters on the subject. For
this wise undertaking, a young gentleman of the name
of Kirwan, just quitted school, brought forward a
ridiculous motion of thanks to the Armagh Sage, which
the Association, in the absence of the " lawyers," and on
the representation of Mr. Conway, had the good sense to
reject by a large majority, and Mr. Ensor now enrolls
himself a member of that body, who properly refused to
applaud his vituperation. Mr. O'CJmiell, at the meeting
of the Association on the Ist of May, thought proper to
assert, with that usual regard to facts that distinguishes
his speeches, " that they saw the countenance his Excel-
lency gave to the miserable Corporation which was the fa-
ther of those bills, tltat every corporator, including the
worthy Lord Mayor, with his face of illiberality, was now
so anxious to disclaim." Now we know of no countenance
Lord Wellesley has given the Dublin Corporation in par-
ticular, and he certainly 'lid not, and could not, approve
of the unpopular Bills which the Douse of Commons re-
jected. But Mr. O'Connell is nothing unless he vitu-
perates ; he is always fishing in troubled waters,—" peace
is to him the worst of wars." Now that Mr. Ensor is ad-
mitted a member of the Association, he may pronounce
his own eulogy, and we expect to sec a lengthened harangue
front him, full of self panegyric, in a few days. This is
the way in which timings arc managed in that body when
the " Declaimers" arc present. We sincerely wish their
short-live) absence hail contiuued longer. While they were
away the Association was us.fully employed ;—they re-
turned, and clamour and calumny have commenced again.
What can the (Catholics hope from such a career but re-
newed disappointment and protracted bondage?

We agree fully with the Cowie? in its remarks of Monday
night, on the disgraceful scenes that too often occur in the
Courts of Reqnests in this city. The proceedings of these
tribunals are in general an outrage on the very name of
justice. We ourselves called public attention to this crying
grievance some weeks since,and expressed our wish that Lord
Althorp's for the appointment of County Courts, had,
included these " 11. ens" of justice, and either reformed or ex- '1
thu'inished them altogether: as at present existing they arc,
Public nuisances, where the very name and forms of justice
are disregarded. A miserable crowd of wretched and de-
prayed ht igants throng these halls, awaiting the result of the'
lottery of justice dealt out there. Platoons of perjury,
like dicers' oaths, every day stare the casual visitant in the
face. and lie is shocked by the flagrant abuses he sees pass-
ing before his eves, and the corrupt and unwarrantable
decisions made in nine cases out of ten for the plaintiff,
merely because he has taken out the summons, and in-,
creased the fees of the Court. The ass.•ssors, who sit in these
courts, are men ignorant of all the forms of justice ; and
many of them, from habit, at length become incorporated
with their abuses. There is not at this moment a public
grievance in this great city calling more loudly for redress
than these Courts of Requests. They plunder " hungry
wretches" of some thousands annually, contributed for the
foul perversion of justice; they encourage flagrant perjury,
dishonesty, and villany of every description. We wish
Mr. flume, or some other member, would bring this
nuisance before Parliament, and introduce a bill to suppress
their existence. A more atrocious outrage has not in our
memory been committed than that of which Miss Cowell.
of Brompton was the victim, under a warrant from one of,
these courts, and which the Ow ire stigmatizes as the
nefarious act of injustice deserves. We hope the present
S,ssiou will not pass away without bringing these Courts
under its review, and reforming their present Constitution
alusyther.