The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-02-20 00:00:00

to take place, though it is not called for by the voice of
1 wretchedness as strongly as the other, is that of the duties
!on wines. Mr. Thomas Wilson, the City Member, pre-
rented last night a petition, praying a reduction of tuese
duties. The receipts of the duties on wine, Mr. Wilson
stated, from Int to 1824, had considerably diminished,
`and this in the face of a higher assessment. The fact is,
as Mr. Hume stated, the consumption is materially dimi-
nished ; and the revenue, by the heavy impost, proportion-
' ally decreased. Hence the adultentio• of wines, and the
injury done to the health of thouvrods: for every bottle of
genuine wine sold in the Cities of.jmnion and Westmin-
ster, ten are adulterated—in tin isticle even of Cape
tesn wine, almost exempted from slut .N a protection to the
growth in that colony. The Opo ish, and French
wines are taxed an high, that tAlmidt sailed Cape is
manufactured in hogsheads, and sold in one year In
London, under that name, than is pressed from the
vineyards in South Africa in kn. Not only the
health, but the morals of the *pie, suffer dreadfully
from this tax. Gin, a most pernicious liquor, would
not be consumed in such quantities here, if wines were
at a moderate price; nor whiskey, in Scotland or Ireland,
lead to crime and general detnoralisstiott. Thirty years
since, when all nocessaries of lift were little below their
present standard, the tradesman in middle life could have
goodl39ft.vdne in his cellar for a guinea a-dozen ; now he
cannot fft it for three times that sum. Wine is essen-
tial told nonifortae .snd often to the health of maul, to
whom the present Idgb duty acts as aldtstter proscription.
Forty years .ago Are; was common./IA through Scotland
add Ireland, and little beside was drunk. It has been super-
seded bytho. furious spirit called whiskey, with little im-
provement either to the health or morals of the community.
The revenue would suffer nothing from a reduction of
the duty on Willis, which the increased consumption would
Inure than fill up. We would wish to see the subject more
generally pressed in the House, and Mr. Wilson's sugges-
tions receive the proper attention from the Chancellor
of the Exchequer.

Mr. Secretary Peel, last night, obtained leave to bring
in a Bill to consolidate and amend the laws relating to
juries,—a most necessary measure. We trust the present
system of special juries will be included, and at length
corrected : as the evil at present exists, these juries are re-
gular fee'd retainers of the Crown, who earn a stated and
calculated subsistence by their attendance in the Court of
Exchequer and elsewhere. Sir John Newport expressed a
hope that the benefits of a similar rtforin would be ex-
tended to Ireland, where much abuse and frequent oppres-
sion exist in the formation of special juries. The general
administration of justice has latterly much improved In
Ireland ; and the system of special juries never has been
of the same objectionable nature as in this country.
There are no individuals there permanent jurars,tum-
moned and paid by the Treasury Solicitor ; and the only
instances in which we have known justice outraged in Ire-
land were, when party or rather religious feelings inter-
fered, and prevented equitable verdicts from being re-
turned.—We are happy to know, from a statement of Mr.
Secretary Peel's last night, that the grsies abuses of prison
discipline will at length be corrected * his interposition.
The feeling which Mr. Peel has exhibitbd on this occasion,
and the decision with which he has seta, to correct magis-
terial tyranny, are highly honourable to him. He took the
first opportunity this Session, to record his opinion against
the monstrous oppression of dooming untried individuals
to the toilsome and degrading labour of the tread-mill;
and be is now about to extingitiah that tyranny by
the authority of the Legislature. *'wonder how will
Mr. Chetwynd feel or defend his acts, when the history
of his conduct to the Flints comes before the House, u
come it will; his seanwinize in the Court of King's Bench
will, we fear, avail little for his defence in Parliament.
In fact, the tyranny of Magistrates under that vile legis-
lative abortion, called "The Vagrant Act," was latterly
becoming quite monstrous. In London it was frowned
down as soon as attempted by the Press; but in the
country a system of despotism was daily strengthening,
under which at length no man could exist : in fact, it be-
came essential to a gentleman's independence and personal
protection to procure a commission of the peace, to guard
him from the tyranny of his privileged neighbours. This
system has been exposed, and has awakened attention in the
highest quarter. Mr. Peel's interposition will, we trust,
at length put an end to it, and check the arbitrary powers
of Magistrates.

‘Vhen two solitary instances, in the persons of Mr. Troy,
a nephew to the late titular Arebbishep of Dublin, and
Mr. D'Arey Mahon, who, we believe, is not a Catholic,
were cited by Ministers, last night, as an example of the
impartiality with which government offices have been ap-
portioned in Ireland, it formed a weak defence to the
charges of general exclusion brought against them. Mr.
Mahon has been appointed, after several years of active
service, an Officer of Stamps ; and Mr. Troy, who was Col-
lector of Customs at Castle l'ownshend, in the South of
Ireland, to the same situation in this country. But do
these two appointments bespeak justice and impartiality
in the division of offices to the Catholics generally? These
are but the " rani minks gurgile: raxtu"—two solitary
exceptions out of a multitude beside: it would be strange
if, out of a population of six millions, a few Catholics
were net employed. The Greeks were not excluded
from authority under Turkish despotism : off the
contrary, the collection of the revenue and seve-
ral other offices were left in their hands ; yet who
could say the nation was not proscribed ? We are sure it
is the wish of the Marquis AVellesley to rct with the
greatest impartiality in his high office, but he cannot do
so under the present system; the patronage is not in his
hands. The fact is, the Catholics still are, to all intents
and purposes, excluded from all office and emolument in
Ireland; every thing, from the highest situation in the
Revenue, down to the lowest appointment in the Excise,
is in the hands of their adversaries. The change of sys-
tem is merely nominal—virtually it remains the same : of
the multitude of offices carved out for Government depend-
ents in Ireland, a list of which was produced by Mr.
Grattan last night, the Catholics hold, in fact, none.
The penal code in this way is in full activity against
them, and a Catholic cannot look for any office of confi-
dence or emolument whatever : be is excluded from many
by statute, but those he might fill are studiously withheld
from him. Mr. Canning, with ibis talents, ought to have ad-
duced some better reasons for resisting Mr. Grattan's motion
then the sophistry by which he negatived it. What the
Foreign S,Tretary said funned no defence for Ministers.
The Catholics cannot be contented under the mortifying
treatment they receive ; nor can it be expeceed that Ire-
land, under such a system of proscription and insult, can
remain tranquil. A lit e:al and enlightened Ministry
would at once blot out the foul penal code that degrade.
so large a 'part of the population of that country, and dis-
dain to act on so unwcrthy a system of narrow and impolitic
exclusion.