The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-03-04 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE.

HOUSE OF COMMONS. WZDNVIDAT, 31Aacn 3.

At four o'clock the Speaker proceeded to count the House, when
there being but thirty.(ve Members present, the House adjourned.

NOTICES OF MOTIONS THIS DAY.
1. Sir Robert Heron,—Bill to prevent the necessity of renewal of
Official Appointments on the demise of the Crown.
2. Colonel Darien,—Papers explanatory of payments made from
French Indemnity Money.
3. Sir John Newport,—To repeal Statute 9th William, c. 1 (Irish
Stat.), and for securing the right of burial of Roman Catholics and
Dissenters in Ireland. .

4. Sir Henry Parnell.—Bill to enable Roman Catholics to pur-
chase and hold lands for charitable and pious purposes.

LIST OF THE MINORITY
On Mr. Abercromby's 31otion respecting the Conduct of the Lord
-March 1

LIST OF Till; MINORZTY
On Mr. Ilobhouse's Motion for Repealing the Tax on Windows.
March 2.

,I

yE
/ ;.

- Chancellor. —. t.
Allen, J. H. Gordon, Robert Rickford, W.
Althorn, Vise. Haldimand, W. Barlett, J.
Acland, Sir T. Hamilton, Lord A. Sefton, Earl
Baring, Alert. Heatheore, (I. S. Stanley, hord
Baring, Sir T. Heron, Sir Robert Stanley, Hon. G.
Bennet, Hon. H. G. Honeywood, W. P. Staunton, Sir 0.
Benyon, Benj. Hume, Joseph Smith, Robert
Bernal, IL Hurst, Robert Smith, John
Birch, Jos. Hutchinson,iln.C.H. Smith, William
Brougham, H. James, W. Smith, George
Browne, D. Ingilby, Sir W. Smith, Samuel
Bright, 11, Kennedy, T. F. Smith, Abel
Caleraft, J. Lamb, Hon. 0. Stuart, Lord S.
Calcrsrt, J. H. beyeester, R. Sykes, D.
Campbell, lion. G. 1. ishington, S. Tremayne, J. H.
Calvert. C. la mice, W. Taylor, C.
I'm-oldish, C. Moberly, John Tennyson. C.
Cavendish, H. Mackintosh, Sir J. Tierney, Rt. Hon. G.
Chstmer, R. Martin, J. Talk, C. A.
Clil UM , Ltml 31ilum. Vise. Wane, S. A.
Coffin, Sir I. Moore, Peter Il'ebbe, E.
Creevey, T. Newman, It. W. IVestern, C. C.
('rompton, S. Newport, Sir John Whitbread, S.
Coma, J. C. l)rd. IV. Whitbread, W.
Davenport, D. Palmer, C. Williams, W.
Davies, T. 11. Phillips. G. It IV ikon. Sir R.
Denison, W. Price, R. '4 limn, T. C.
Denison, E. Poynn, W. S. Wood, M.
Denman, T. Portman, E. NVyrill, M.
Ellice. Ed. Ratusden, J. C. Wrotte.ley, Sir S.
Ellis, Hon. G. H. Rice, T. S. If ilberforre, W.
Evans, W. Kohut., A.
Farrand, K. Roberta, G. TELLERS.
(rattan, James Robinson, Sir G. Abereromby, Ilon. J.
(Irenfell, Pascoe Rowley. Sir W. Dunmanon, Vise.
Guise, Sir IV. Runtbold, C. E.

A

Abereromlur, lion. J. licatheote, G. J. Poyntz, W. S.
Allen. J. 11. Heron, Sir It. Pytn, F.
Altharp, Viscount liony wood, W. P. Itarnsden, J. C.
Baring, Sir T. Home, Joseph Rice, T. S.
Bennet. Hon. H. G. Ilutehinson,lln.C.ll. Robarts, A.
Bernal, Ralph James, %V. It lbarts, G.
Pro.tgluon, H. Jervuise, 6. P. Iliihinson, Sir G.
Burdett, Sir F. Johnson, 11'.:1. Rowley, Sir W.
Belgrave. Viscount Kemp, S. Russell, Lord T.
Bright. 11. Kennedy, S. F. Sefton, Earl
Coleraft, J. Keck, ti. A. L. Smi:h, J.
Calvert, J. l&ruard, T. B. Smith, W.
('skeet, C. L comer. It. Stewart, Lord J.
C trier, J. Lea et
der, W. Sykes. D.
d'aventli+ll, C. C. Lloyd, J. 31. '1 aylor, C. M.
Covendish, H. r'. C. Lethbridge. Sir T. Tennyson, C.
4 :haloner. R. Lockhart, S. I'. Tierney, Rt. lion. G.
(Tifton, Viscount Monday, F. 'f ynte, C. K.
(:011i0r...e, N. ll". R. 3laberly, W. L. II erre, S. A.
Crevrcy, Thomas 31arioribanks, S. il'ebbe.. E.
Dories, I'. Milton, Viscount Western, C. C.
Denison, W. S. 11100 re, Peter IV hithread, S.
Denman, Thomas Al &long, I'. S. Wliitb:ead, li'.
1 tuncannon, N'iscount 31unck, J. B. Wilson, Sir R.
Pandas. lion. I'. Newport. Sir J. Wood..llderman
Ihtvermort, D. Ord, William It'yvill, 31.
Ellice, Edward Portman. E. Wruttesley, Sir J.
Grubs'''. S. Pores, Thoinss
Guise, Sir B. W. Palmer, C. F. Tel.! ERS.
Gurney, R. H. Palmer, Colonel Ilobhouse, J. C.
Gordon, R. Phillips, G. 11. Moberly, John
Lianulton, Lord A. Price, Robert

PRICES OF FOREIGN
Ati.trim Scrip. 114 I I pr
Diito for a pr.
Ditto paid in fun
Chitian Bards, tf4 3 2.
Ditto for Acct. NI !Lii
f:olombian Bonds, 674
Do. rot Account, fil3 7A
Danish Bonds, 99) lOU 99A
Ditto Marks anco, 951 A
lurc• scrip. 8 i 71 13
9 i
r. 8, Ar•
Do. for A 71 A 817333
Ni-tptlitan Bonds,
Ditto for Account 89i
Portligticse Bands 93
Dime Scrip. 53 pm.
Pru•miun 1%.”,dt, 991 A
Ditto rot Account
Ditto Bonds (112'3)

STOCKS YESTERDAY.
Russian 11ds. 1114 4 j ex. div.
Russian tier Acct. 41, 5
Russian Inscriptiim
Exchange per ruble
Ditto 3letallic Steck
Spanish Cons. 244
Ditto for Account 214
Ditto 170 E 233 Bds.
Ditto Bonds (1320) 26
Do. 5 p:r Cts. 0823) 194
1 Ditto for Acct. 194
Anglo Nlex. 3lines 64 6 pr.
United Ditto 1 pm.
Ft. Rentes, 1021. 25c. 51k.
Do. Scrip, 1,4 34 4 pm.
Ditto for the cct. 154 a a pm.
Do. EL 231. 50e.
Greek Scrip. 34 1 24
Peruvian Scrip 78

Drz--1 Lisbon, 1 Gonenborgb, and 2 liamburgh.

~~~,

NEW TrE.ITRE ROYAL, DRUMF-L9.VE.
This Fvening. %I' March 4 will be perfomied
THE MERRY 11'11'6 OF Al BSOR.
Fen:on, Mr. Braham: Sir John F.Alstatr, Mr. 1) ton; Mrs. Ford,
Miss Stephens; Mrs. Page, Madame Vestris.
To conclude with the Romance of
1.08015K.1.
To-morrow there will be no P,rfonnance.

THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDE.V.
This Evening, TH UHSDA V, 3lnrch ♦, will be performed
NATIVE LAND.

Principal Characters by 3leirmi. Sinclair, W. Farren, Cooper, and
Fawcett; Missies Paton, Love, and M. Tree.

After which,
TIIE FOREST OF BONDI%

To-morrow a Grand Performance of Ancient and Modern Music,
under the direction of Mr. Roch.n.

THEATRE ROYAL, ENGLISH OPERA HOUSE.
ON WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS IN LENT.
TO-1110TTOW EreninF FRIDAY. March 5. Mr. BARTLEY
a LECTL RE on ASTRONOMY and the PHENO-
31ENA of the HEAVENS and of the EARTH.
To begin at Seven, and conclud: at Ten.

Eftr isritosit wrzoo•
BIIITISH PaEss commenced publi.bing yesterday morning
at half-pa't five o'clock.

LONDON. TiItiSDAY, Alaacts 4, 1821.

The proceedings at the India House yesterday form a
subject of extreme interest. The Court was completely
crowded at an early hour, and every avenue was filled by
Proprietors. The discussion that took place was anxiously
antici:iat A. It was impossible the friends of Lord Hast-
ings could remain silent, or the charges against him con-
tinue undenied. The Hyderabad affair steel the loan
to the Nizana, on their first mysterious mention, ar-
rested public attention at once, and the doubtful answers
ut the I 'retiring:l of the Company at the last Conr: brought
more than iinplication to Lord Hastings, particularly when
connected with the previous negative of the menniary
grant for his distinguished services in India. When the
numerous votes to the Noble Marquis, as the reward of
his administrati,m, both in Parliament and that Court,
were rutolli•cted—when it was remembered that a muni-
ficent grant of co,onol. was ii. creed him in 9, as a test
of the gratitude of :he India Company—when the disin-
terontAntss of Laid Hastings was recalled to memory
with which he rejected a large MIDI of prize-tonney,
the result of suer -ssful direction of the Mahratta
and Madame w er—when, farther, it was known that
lie had returned home from India after a brilliant ad-
ministration, himself unctiriched, but leaving the Corn-
pony with a territory in Ilindestan great and peaceful
beyond all former example,—it could not but have created
surmise, that the mark of gratitude which was dealt to
Warren Hastings, to Lord Wellesley, ail others, who
had filhvl the government of India, should have been
nezatived to this di itinguished Nobleman; and it wes
plain that the cham e of feeling must have proceeded from
is causes known only to the Directors, and only darkly
i.pered to tlw public at large. The whole life of Lor.l
tstings was opposed to any peculative charges. If the
n to his Highness the Nizam, by Palmer and Co.'s
Ise at Hyderabad, was tainted with fraud or exac-
it was not even rrobable the late llovo'nor-Ce-
'l was in any way implicated. Such was the feel-
of his friends when they came forward so ere-

ditably in his defence ; and such, we are sure, was the I
feeling also of the public at large. We do not think that
Mr. Iltune's remarks, on the motion of Mr. John Smith,
when he moved for all documents connected with this
Loan, were just ; because the production of these papers,
if Lord Iladings he free from criminality, would at once
form his best defence. Far from reflecting on the late
t hovernor-General, or connecting him with anything doubt-
ful in this transaction, the papers, when produced, must
form the best proof's of his honour. Though this particular
motion was not carried,it led to the general resolution, which
was voted, for all papers before the Directors, connected with
the Government of Lord Hastings, which will elucidate
the whole conduct of the Noble Marquis. We shall,
indeed, be di.:appointcd if their production will not at once
dispel all dlottlns that have rested on the character of this
distinguished Nobleman. We can remember that pecula-
tion was one of the leading charges pressed by Mr. Burke,
with all the force of his vituperant oratory, against iVarren
Hastings ; yet Mr. Sullivan, Lis private Secretary, solemnly
deposed that at no period of the fourteen yearegovethinent
of that great man, was be worth 100,0001, and that he
never could be brought to attend to his private affairs.
Had not the India Company subsequently paid the costs
of his impeachment, amounting to 80,0001., and voted
him an annuity of 1,0001. for his own life and that
of Mrs. Hastings, that illustrious individual must have
been ruined. So easy is it to conjure up shadows, and
whisper dark chargcs against character without the smallest
truth or foundation. The result of the present investiga-
tion will, we are sure, he most honourable to Lord Hast-
ings, and hie splendid services will ultimately meet, we
trust, the reward they sa richly merit.

The window tax ought to be repealed : we regret the
remission of this distressing impost met Mr. Robinson's
negative. The direct taxes should have been the first
reduced ; they are felt in their pressure more heavily than
any others. Direct taxation is always oppressive to the
people generally ; and there is no assessment more
obnoxious or degrading than that of the window tax: the'
constant surcharges that follow upon it—the visits of jea-
lous and prying inspectors—the eternal calls of the tax-
collector, where poverty brings with it the inability to pay
—and the seizures of the household furniture of the occu-
pants. so often made under the most distressing circum-
stances, arc so many every-day facts that loudly call for the
remission of this afflicting impost. And how small a part,
after all, in the whole of the revenue of the country, does
this unpopular tax bear ! Previous to the last reduction in
18'2:1, it did not bring in, through the whole country, more
than about 2,300, tit In its entire produce now, reductal one-
half, is little more than 1,160,0001., while the vast mere-
gate of the revenue swells to near 37,000,0001. The reduc-
tion of indirect taxation is, in fact, little felt, while the re-
peal of an impost of this description would bring general and
grateful relief with it to thousands. The number of houses
chargrd with the window tax, by the last returns, through
Great Britain, amounted to about 970,000. The cottages
exempted in England, from the poverty of the occupiers,
were nearly 630,000. The habitations of the same de-
scription, discharged from the assessment on appeal, were
reckoned at more than 11,000; so that here were near a
million of residences constantly swept by the tax collectors'
assessments: and to prove the way in which this assess-
ment presses on the poorer orders, 630,000 cases appear
of individuals exempted, from downright inability to pay,
and 11,000 appeals stare us ill the face, from poverty,
against this tax alone! Can anything be more convincing
than this short but striking detail, to prove how heavily the
window tax presses on the community, and yet how very
unproductive it is? We do not contend that the duties on
silk and foreign wool, on London coals, and on colonial
spirits, ought to have been continued ; but with the ext'ep-
non of the assessment on coals carried coastwise (and a
very small part of that duty has been repealed), the other
charges were unfelt by the community, when contrasted
with the direct taxes. The high price of coals proceeded
as much from a monopoly as from the duties; silks are
worn only by the rich, and the reduction of the duty on
rums could only benefit the West India interest. The
taxes on windows, horses, and taxed carts, bear heavily on
the industrious portion of the community; they are ►evied
from their industry and daily ! dour; they come directly
out of their pockets, and the exaction is proportionably
felt. Indirect taxation presses much less heavily; the tax-
gather is not a constant visitant, he does not exercise a
petty aril rapacious tyranny over the individuals paying.
No meetings, it is true, have taken place for the repeal of
this tax, because it does not press on any one powerful
itrade or commercial body, but, like a pestilence, it afflicts
!the humbler orders generally: they have not clamoured
'for the removal, but their claims ought not to he less
attended to because the history of their sufferings is silent,
though afflicting. The oppressive conduct and surcharges
of collectors of this impost are notorious: most distressing
cases are every day recorded of the hardships brought in
their train. Let any man attend the cases of appeal brought
before the local Commissioners, and see the crowd of anxi-
ous and impoverished appellants collected on these days,
with the details of their poverty and sufferings ; and then
say whether the wi :dow tax is one whose productiveness
compensates for the numerous inflictions it brings with it;
how many penalties have been enforced by the rapacious
collector against individads with whom his perple:eed lists
have been left, who have been unable to unravel the legal
jargon with which they are mystified. and to distinguish so
as to set down in writing the double window from the single
—the labourer plan the servant—or a two-wheeled chaise
from a taxed cart. The repeal of the duty on law stamps
conciliates a powerful body in the law, who complained of
a reduction of business from the pressure of this assessment;
but what is taken oft' in stamps will be filled up in the so-
licitora' bills, and little benefit will ultimately accrue to the
community. But the repeal of direct taxation would be
felt and acknowledged by the people at lerge, and bring
with it a host of confidence, gratitude, and support to the
Gove.nment that made the welfare of the nation its ob-
ject, and : night to conciliate not merely the support of a
party, but the wishes and feelings of the people at large.

Yeswtdav, at two o'clock, a Cal •t Council was held at
the Foreign lattice, Downing-street, being the fifth that
has been held in the course of the last five days. The
Council was attended by most of the 3linisters, whosat in
delilk.ration till a quarter-past four.
The Cabinet Ministers dined with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, yesterday, at bit. house in Downing-street.
The Marquis of Titchfield, we are sorry to hear, con-
tinues touch in the same state.

It is the intention of his Majesty's Ministers to lay before
Parliament forthwith, all the necessary documents for en-
abling it to understand the exact state of the question
respecting South America. This communication will in-
clude, we learn, di- diplomatic correspentlence which has
been carried on between his :ilajesty s Government and
Spain, as well as with other Powers, upon the subject.
The matter will he Oerinitively as ttled, we believe, in a
Cabinet Council, which is to be held to-day, and it is not
improbable that the papers may be brought down to both
!louses or Parliament to-incrrow.—Eerainr,, Paper.
It is not true, as stated in sonic of the Morning Papers,
that Colonel Fromantle has yroceeded, or is about to pro-
ceed. to Mt•xico, on an important mission.—Stur.
Wc have authority to state, that Mr. Bastard has no in-
tention of re,,i;ming his seat for Devanshire.--17iroletra
it extern Lum _ _

Tile native, of ('ornwall, resident in London, are about
to form t county club there—one and all.—Erelrr Paper.
At a Quartedy Assembly of the Corporation l_ll yester-
day s_.'imight, it was ordered that a petition be presented
to the HUM!! of Commons, and a memorial to the Lord
Chaneellor, for the purpose of obtaining two Gaol I)elive-
riei lot thi.: city and county iu each year.—Not trial Paper.
The property lalonging to tlw Prine,ss .Augusta has
been removing from the late °twee] Charlotte's Palace,
,irate Monday, to her Royal Ilighmss's intended residence
in the King's Palace, St. James's, formerly occupied by
Mr. Calvert, the Lot-3 Chamberlain's S-:cretary.
It is reported that " Tir. Memoirs of a late celebrated
English Countess," the intimate friend of an Illustrious
Pcrsonag..., written by herself, will be published in the
conrac of the present month.
During the violent gale yesterday afternoon, a stack of
chimney*, belonging to a house in the Liwer end of Charles-street,
II -ittim.ganlen, gave wry, and fell partly into the roof of the ad-
juinin ;,boon, partly into the street. A poor boy belonging to
I the efutrity-nctiool, who happened to be panning at the moment,
wan smitten to the ground by the bricks and tiles, and was
carried home in a helpless owe. A man at work in the attic
wan able severely bruised. the rubbish having penetrated the ro*f,!
I a!- al greet), daninged the house where it fell.