The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-12-25 00:00:00

J.1.1141C11 Mil IL.

KINGSTON. OCTOBER 25.
Rear-Admiral Sir Home Popham. K.C.8., in
consequence of his recent promotion. changed his
flag ou Saturday last (October 23) from blue to
red. The customary salutes were fired on the
occasion. OCTOBER 16.
A report has reached this ci'y that all the thifor..
Innate British officers, taken at Porto Bello. and
confined ■t Omen. had been beheaded, by order
of the Comtnandaut of that place.

OCTOBER 9.

We regret to lesrn from the Bermudas, that a
bilious remittent fryer had broken out in those
islands, and had swept oti several inhabitants, as
well as soldiers and seamen. The medical prac-
titioners at St. George's had almost all become sick
themselves, or exhausted by their arduous duties,
in consequence of which Doctors Gilbert and
Cook hail tendered their services to visit the rick,
notwithstanding that they hail patients in their re-
spective quarters of the country to attend, as well
as in St. George's.

CHRISTMAS DAT.—Holiday at all the Public Offices.

'Sit P. SS.
LON DON,
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25. 1819.

THE

The House of Lords will inert spin on Mon-
dayr wheu the omendinetits made by the House of

Commons on the Libel Bill will be taken into ton-

sideration. Their Lordships will scarcely he able
to recognize the Bill as an old acquaintauce. The
Right Reverend Prelate who, with so much good
taste, good sense, and profound learning, drclared
that the publication of a libel, being a felua•s

crime, deserved a felor's punishment, will look in
vain for the penalty of transportation ; even the
penalty of banishment will now be found somewhat
mitigated, for it will rest in the discretion of the

Court whether it shall be inflicted for life or a

limited number of years. Thi• latter modification

was introduced by the A TTOILN EY.GIN ERA 1., Oil

account of the very thlferent legal consequences that

attend banishment for life and banishment fur years,
and which we fear was nut sufficiently understood by
the Houses of Psi.fitment durtisT, the disco:firm of
the measure. When the ATTORNEY-GENERAL
first noticed the difference, we were inclined to

think that the civil death, which is the comae-
quence of banishment fur life, was attached rather
to the crime of which the individual may be con-
victed, and not to the penally ; and that as libel
was neither treason nor felony, the forfeiture of all
civil rights, includi►►g that of property, would not
attach to the penalty of banishment inflicted in its
simplest form by the present Bill, and this sup-
position was in some degree confirmed by the cir-
cumstance, that in the ciiits'ail THOMAI of Wey.
land, sod Sir ROBERT BELIENAY, mentioned
by Lord COKE, the parties who abjured the
realm had been guilty of treason and felony ; but
undoubtedly Lord COK6 lays down the rule
absolutely as was staled by the ATTORNEY and So.
LICITOR-GENERAL, that banishineot for life is a
civil death. By the present Bill, therefore, a man
convicted a second tune of a libel may, at the dis-
cretion of the Court of King's Bench, be deprived
of all control over his property—the heir may enter
•pon his lands as if the immediate ancestor were
actually dead, his wife may claim her dower or her
jointure—if the man so convicted and sentenced
to perpetual exile hold lands in fee pimple, his
simple contract creditors will be deprived of their
debts—if his will be made, it will immediately
begin to operate, and the fruits of his industry will
be enjoyed by others. A punishment so severe, we
are convinced, could not be contemplated by many
of thole who voted for the Bill, and who might
have thought it advisable to free the country of a
troublesome writer, without conceiving it just to
deprive him of all Isis property.
The House of Commons adjourned last uight
until Thursday next, when they will meet for the
purpose of receivisig such communications from the
[louse of Lords as may be necessary, and of hear-
ing the Royal Assent given to the Bills affecting
the public Press. The House will Oleo adjourn to
the 15th of February.
A Petition was last night presented to the House
of Commons by Mr. lavtoo, from several of the
most respectable Merchants in the City of London.
complaining generally of the depressed state of
trade, and piayii g that Parliament might institute
an inquiry into the causes of the present distresses.
The Petition was c9►uched in very guarded terms,
earl carefully excluded every appearance of br-
ing dictated by feelings merely political. The
matter of it gave ripe to some discussion, in the
course of which Mr. ItICARDO entered into a
detailed statement of his plau for paying riff
the national debt I His plan is, that a gene-
ral assessment should be imposed upuis all p►o.
perty iu the kingdom fur this purpose ; but His-
merous and severe as are the evils that flow from
the existence of this debt, they are few sod boot
in comparitiou with those which so violent au act►uu
must create. If the 'hilst►ou of the national
debt be an object which can no lougtr be post.
pontd, better far would it be to use a sewage at
once, than to convulse the whole frame of society
by such a project as that proposed by Mr.
llt-
CARDO.

The financial statements made on Wednesday
night in the Ilnuse of ...:oionx?ois.iby the C'UAN•
caLLoa of the Exclitc9u*n., instead of creating
confidence iu the commercial put of the world,

have rather hid the effect of c ,t)rpri.e, by
the supposition that the expectations held out by
the Right lion. Gentleman canine', by any pcw.i-
bility, be realited. We most confess thiut we too
felt and expresaed some astonishment, but so much
respect is due to the words of the Right lion. Gen-
tleman upon a subject with which he must be inti-
mately acquainted, and the time is now so nearly •1
hand when the correctness of his representations can
be aacertained, that we should not think ourselves
justified in attempting by any general reasoning or
calculations upon uncertain data, to alley how un-
substantial are the hopes that seem to be enter-
tained by the !NIA lion. Gentleman. There is a
pleasure, too, in confiding is sin li reposrutatiors
which wr would not readily forego, and our frith is
confirmed by the consideration that the Right
lion. Gentleman leas pledged Ins character, in pre-
sence of Pailiketnent and the country, for the truth
of what he has advanced.

It it then to be understood from the CHANi.
CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, that the plan of
homier proposed 1.1,t Session, and sanctioned by
Partialtwill, will be strictly pursued during the en-
suing year, and that the receipt of the revenue,
including the Sicking Fund, will be found pot
only folly adequate to cover the whole expenditure,
but that some surplus of revenue, amounting nearly
to five millions, the sum contemplated last Session
for constituting an efficient Sinking Fund, will be
made available in the hands of the Commissioners
fur liquidating the National Debt. Such is the
promise made by the Right Hon. Gentleman, and
it is right that it should be distinctly understood.
The only leen, therefore, necessary for the ensuing
year, will be one for Ike purpose of prying off some
of the debt due to the Bank—the last loan, too,
we are told, that will he contracted during the
continuance of pence. The amount of the loan
will be a matter of consideration for Parliament.

One of five millions was contemplated during the
last Session, but it was then understood that five
millions should be paid to the Bank on or before
April next. Now we are not sure that the CHAII
CELLOS of the EXCHEQUER'S promise of not de-
viating from the plan proposed, embraced the full
payment of this sum, of which only 1,200,000/. has
been as yet discharged ; but if it did not, we may
expect to find the difference added tb the amount
of the luau originally contemplated, and, as the
Treating delights in round numbers, we shall pro-
bably find that recourse will be had to the market
previous to the close of the present Session of Par-
liament fur a loan of TEN MILLIONS.

There undoubtedly exists a desire in this country
to invest capital in the French funds, because the
rate of interest paid fur money by the French
Government is crintidersbly higher than the rate of
interest paid by the British Government, and also
because there is in France an operative sinking
fund, amounting, we believe, to one per cent. ou
the whole debt, which holds out the assurance of a
considerable rise at no distunt period in the value of
French government securities. The want of capi-
tal actively employed has been frit in this country
as a source of evil, but we question whether there
*multi be any material difference, with regard to its
beneficial employment, between capital lying in the
English funds, and the same capital transferred
to the French funds. The quantity, whatever it
may be, would not, we are convinced, under the
existing circumstances of the country, produce
such an improvement in the price of stock as to
drive any considerable portion of capital out of the
funds, to be more actively employed in trade, agri-
culture, or commerce ; but still the transfer of
' capital is an evil of great and alarming magnitude.
We think, however, that the desire of transfering
it from this country to France will be counteracted
by that principle of the French law which pre-
vents all testamentary disposition of property, and
which is so repugnant to the habits of thinking rod
the prevailing sentiments of Englishmen. The
Morning Chronick is mistaken in supposing that
the repeal of the droit d'anbaine has affected this
principle in the law of France. The Editor of
The Chronicle must be aware that the droll d'oalraine
related to aliens only, and consequently that the
repeal of the law had no other effect than to remove
the hands of the Government, mud to place foreign-
ers, with regard to their property, on the same
footing with native subjects of France. If, there-
fore, a native subject enjoy. nu power of testamen-
tary disposition, an alien cannot expect to be treated
by the law of France with greater indulgence, ■nd
his property must, on his demise, be shared among
hi 4 children or other relatives in the same manner
as if it were the property of a Frenchman.

Jamaica Papers have been received to the 26th
October, from which we have made extracts. The
paragraph respectireg the British Officers taken at
Porto Bello is entitled to no credit. In the first
place, these Officers were protected by a formal
capitulation ; and secondly. the war iii South Ame-
rica has assumed a character that forbids such
barbarity.

... . .
Yesterday owning the Juuat Aitinpi-GE-
74LRAL attended the PRINCB REGENT at Cii.ltou
Hou.e fur a cutisicirrable time, mud took lots Royal
Ilightiest.'s commands upon the proceedings of 1
'Literal cuorts•tnartial. I
The Inez and Vansittiirt left • Bombay* 'for •!
Clone on the Zatis of July.
The Aikr and Slreuthuse arrived at Calcutta on .
the 9:11 of July.

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