The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-03-06 00:00:00

tion of the Revenue Boards of Scotland wi;h chore of Eng.
land, on the recommendation of the Cummiasioners of

" The inquiries and result of another C,ernmissitm are too mu
to the purpose to be suppressed The object was to inrawigst
the conduct of the Revenue Boards in Irehuid sod Scotland.
the .former, It la well known, great mismanagement wee disc
vend ; for Pat, poor fellow, had been playing the loon to a wei
&Tabl extent. In Scotland, cool o shadow) of abuse precede
You would have thought, Mr. Journalist, that the Irish Mom
would have been reformed in some shape, and the Scotch establis
iiients honourably acquitted, and suffered to continue on the Am
log of independence whirl' they had so long_ enjoyed, and of whit
they had p•oved themselves so worthy Not so, Sir. The g
venue Boards in both countries underwent exactly the sarne
gulation, were deprived of their Independent consequence, ao
placed under Cie superintendence of tingiish control ; the imipeea
and the guilty being treated in every respect alike: Now, oo I
tide or Scotland, this was like Trinculo losing his bottle in
pool—there was nut only dishonour in the thing, bu, au i
loss."

lie next atxumes, n the ground on which Miniitei

proceeded in what he calls " this indiscriminating spplici
tion of punishment to the innocent and the culpable ;

first, the expediency of reconciling Ireland to the indii

nity—
" The other reason alleged for this equal distribution of ?pawl
meat, as if it had been the influence of the common tan, or the
general rain, to the just and the unjust, was one which is ezireniely
predominant at present with our Itlinisters--rhe Necesrity ux!.
r oftm ITY in all such cases; and the consideration what an epic.
ward thing it would be to have a Board of Exclae or Customs
remaining independent in the one country. solely because they
bad, without impeachment, niacharged their duty ; while the
same establishment was cashiered io another, far no better reason
than that it had been misused."

But the fallacy of the reasoning lira in assuming the
consolidation of the Irish with the English Boards of Re-
venue, as a punishment inflicted on Ireland for the mis-
conduct of those persons to whom the collection and
manag• mcnt of the Revenue had been confided, and

thence insisting on the injustice of extending the infliction
to Scotland, whose public Boards had not offended;
whereas the act adverted to was not a measure of punish-

tnent, but a measure of rdirrm ; its olject was to remedy
the ahtis(s which prevailed, and which, from the distance
and the difficulty of prevention, it had become iinpossilik

to correct hut by putting the whole direction under out
system of management, and subjecting to a more prompt
and citi:ctive responsibility. If the necessity of extending
the same system to Scotland was not so urgent, it wit at
least w;aranted by the same principle of utility, and so
period could have been better chosen to carry it into effect.
Sir WALTER flatters his thrifty countrymen a little too
strongly, if he fancies them so pure in office as to be unas.
sallable by corruption. Jobbing is not so wholly unknown
in the Land of Cakes as to bring blame on Ministers for
the mere endeavour to provide against it.
When Sir IVALTga comes more immediately to the sub-
ject of the currency, and to the prohibiting the issue of
small notes in Scotland as well as in England, be mani-
festly puts forth all his strength to combat the measure.
The following is in the true style of " Me great Ux.

KNOWN :"
•• This levelling system, notequitable in itself• is infinitely unjust;
if a story, often told by my poor oid grandfather, was true, which
I own 1 ant inclined to doubt. The old man, Sir, had learned in
his youth, or dreamed in his dotage, that Scotland had become an
integral part of England—not in right of conquest, or rendition. or
through any right of inheritance—but in virtue of a solemn Treaty
of Uxtow. Nay, so distinct an idea hal he of this supposed
treaty, that he used to recite one of its articles to this effect
• That the laws in use within the kingdom of Scotland, do, after
the Union, Terrain in the same three as before, but alterable by the
Parliament of Great Britain, with this difference between the has
concerning public right, policy, and ciril government, and the*
which concern private right, that the former may be made the same
through the whole united kingdom ; but that no alteration be mat
on laws which concern private right, excepting for the evident
utility of the shltirets within Scotland.' When the old gentleman
came to the passage, which you will mark in italics, he always
clenched his fist, and exclaimed, 4 Nemo me impose lace:Mr
which, I presume, are words belonging to the black art, since them
is no one in the Modern Athens conjuror enough to understandtheir
meaning, or at least to comprehend the spirit of the sentio,ent
which my grandfather thought they conveyed.
44 I mono,. help thinling, Sir, that if there had beat any 4ruth
in my grandfather's story, some Scotish Member woald, on the
late occasion, have informed the Chancellor of the Exchequer. that,
in virtue of tl:is treaty, it was no sufficient reason for innovating

upon the private rielts of Scotsmen in a most tender and delicate
point, merely that the Right Honottrible Gentleman saw no man
why the came law should not be current through the whole of his
Majesty's dominions ; and that, on the contrary, it was incumbent
upon him to go a step further, and to show that the alteration pre.
posell was for the evident utility of the subjects within Scotian:l—
a propositiou disavowed by the Right Honourable Gentleman's
candid admission, and by that of the Prime 31inistt.s.
" Methit,ks, Sr, oar • Chosen live-and-forty,' supposing the
had bound them:a:lves to Ministers by.swelr oaths of silence and
obedience, as are taken by Carthusian tridrs, must have had fire-
will and speech to express their sentiments, had they been possessed
of so irrefragahle en argument in such ara e of extremity. The
sight of a father's hie iti danger is said to have restored the PM,
of language to the dumb ; and truly, the necessary defence of the
rights of our nu:ive country is not, or at lent ought not to be, ales
animatim, motive.
hordisuderdale almost alone interfered, and procured, to his
infinite honer, a delay of sic manila in the extension of this Act—
a :tort of reprieve ream the southern jaugs—by which we may hove
some chance of profiting, if, during tne interval, we can show Our-
selves true Scotsmen, by some better proof than merely by bei4
wise behind the hand.'

It is most certainly true that under the present sys:ein
of banking the commerce of Scotland hes flourished, hEr
agriculture has advanced, and the whcle fabric of her
prosperity has gained consolidation and strength. But it
would be n great error to ascribe these results to herperr cur-
rency, becaus: they have co-existed with it. This would Ce
to resort to the known logical sophism, lost hoc ergo, protter
hoc. It is enough, we admit, for 111AL/tent's argument
to show that prosperity and the paper system have gone on
healthily together, and to protest against their forcible se-
paration beyond Gretna-green, in consequence of any tli-
vorce that may take place on this side of it. Bat we &:0.1

he validity of every part of his reasoning as drawnfrcia

the Articles of CVOs. The • Article above qiiottll
quoted correctly, and the words omitted are csvntial
the true constructiou of it. 11e will give it as it studs :a

the Treaty—
" XVI 11. That the Laws concerning Regulation of Trade. 0.•
toms, and such Excises, to which Scotland is, by virtue of this Trott.
to be liable, be the same in Scotland, from and after the Un'oP,
in England ; and that oil other laws in use, within the kirgtioi of
Scotland, do. atter the Union, and notwithstanding thereof, tra4'n
in the same force as before (except such au, are contrary to, ca
consi.tent with this treaty), but alterable by the Parliament. a
Great Britain, with this difference betwixt the laws corcemot
public right, polity, and civil government, and those which CA-
cern private right ; that the laws which concern public right. ro.
lity and civil government, may be made the some throughout ?he
whole United Kingdom; but that no alteration be made in Inn
which concern private rigid, except for evident utility of the ash.
jccta within Scotland."
Now, we would ask MALACHI MALAOROMTPISP-04
we would put the question to his patriotic old grandfaher
if he were living—what can more vitally affect the silo
system of trade and every branch of our manufactures
than the quality and condition of the currency ? Now, if
the laws concerning the regulation of trade is to bz "
fi
same in SCOTLAND, from and after the Union, as in EO.
LAND," it would clearly follow that a law which affect
Me curren,-y—which beyond all others concerns the ?vs'
hitiun of trade—should be the same in both countries.
A broad and very intelligible line is drawn in th"
clause of the Treaty of Union between the la"
which concern public and private right ; hitt the 14'
sage which made the old gentleman clench his llsfr"
is tilisvrably misapplied when it is brought forward to pm",
that Government cannot put an end to the c'rculation
of
nue and two pound notes in Scotland, without a breach of
that solemn compact which united the crosses of Sr.
A NUKK %V and Sr. GEORGE. Whit has the regallti"d,
the national currcury to do with any In lode right, Wh:
valid pretext of this sort can be opposed to the exerele
_j
that protec.ive policy which the public interest is Wl'