The National Register.
London, England, 1812-03-08 00:00:00

154

Mr. Henry Wellesley, Ambassador at Cadiz, and Mr. Adair, late
Ambassador at Constantinople, and formerly at Vienna, are, it is said,
to receive the Order of the Bath.
A meeting of the Protestant Noblemen and Gentlemen possessing
property in Ireland, was, on Monday, held at the Thatched-house
Tavern, St. James's-street, Earl Fitzwilliarn in the Chair, for the pur-
oie of signing a Petition to Parliament in favour of the Catholic
*Claims. Eleven Noblemen and Gentlemen were appointed us a Com-
mittee to carry the object of the Petition into effect. The meeting then
adjourned till Monday, the 6th of April, to receive the Report of the
Committee.
A Petition for the removal of all restraints on religious liberty has
been prepared at Hull, and sent up to Mr. Whitbread for presentation
to Parliament. Upwards of 600 names were procured in three days;
amongst them are those of several clergymen of the• Church.
On Monday a Deputation of Birmingham merchants waited on
Mr. Perceval by appointment, with a statement of the mischiefs re-
sulting from the Orders in Council. The Minister admitted, in the
presence of Mr. Rose, that no stronger case had been presented to him,
that it should have its due weight ; but lie added, that he would nut
fatter those hopes which might eventually be disappointed.
•
Tables of the Rates upon which Government are granting Life An-
nuities in exchange for 3 per Cent. Stock, are distributed gratis at the
Office in Bank-Street. These Annuities cannot be purchased when the
3 per‘Cents. are-below 60.
. The Dowager Countess of Macclesfield is in so dangerous a state of
health, that her life is debpaired of.
Mr. W. W. Pole made his first appearance in Hyde Park on Friday,
about fire o'clock, with Miss T. Long seated by his side in a new cur-
rick, drawn by a pair of beautiful blood grey horses, attended by two
servants in different liveries.
It appears probable that the ci-devant Theatrical phenomenon, Mr.
Betty, who was once thought to have made his final bow upon the
Stage, will again exhibit himself throughout the kingdom. His en-
gagement at Bath and Bristol were both extended beyond the term
originally specified. On Wednesday he performed at the Gloucester
Theatre, and he was to appear on Thursday at the Cheltenham Theatre
in the character of the Earl of Essex. Report adds, that an engagement
with the Managers of the New Drury, is in the course of negotiation—
but that, it may be thought, is at present somewhat premature.
The volunteering of the Militia into the Line, for the year 1812, is
to take place about the 10th instant, when ail soldiers on furlough are
ordered to repair to their respective head-quarters.
A Brevet promotion is expected in the month of April, which will
extend to a great portion of the Colonels of 1810, and include the
whole of the Lieutenant-Colonels of 1806.9, the Majors of 1806-7, and
the Captains of 1801-'2..
Four Spanish sailors have arrived in t he Downs in a man of war's
beat, in which they t. &etc d their escape from France with only a
blank et for their sail. • It appears that they belonged to some corps
which had been sent to I3oulogne to fit out the flotilla, for the purpose
of' enabling it to form a junction with the ships in the Scheldt.
We are happy to find that the price of bullion has been for the last
fortnight considerably declining in the market. The price of guineas,
where such surreptitious traffic had been carried on, has fallen so near
to the Mint denomination of the value of that coin, that it is now
scarcely worth the while of the speculators to engage in it. In the same
space of time our foreign exchanges have most materially improved,
and there is every reason to believe that they will continue improving.
• On Saturday se'ennight, or early on Sunday morning, two of the
French prisoners having broken their parole of honour, at Ashby-de-la-
_ Zouch, information thereof was immediately given to the principal
innkeepers at Loughborough, from a supposition that they were likely
7.s to pass through that town: when, singular to relate, only a few hours
• bad elapsed before two persons answering pretty much the description
of the fugitives came on foot to the Bull's Head Inn there, and ordered
dinner, and a chaise for Leicester; the landlady, Mrs. Hopkins, imme-
diately apprized the constable of the circumstance, who took them both
into custody, and conveyed them before the Rev. Dr. Hardy, when it
' • was discovered, that instead of their being the persons supposed, they
were both from Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, one of them Lieutenant
Joseph Peter Pieri, a French Officer, who had broken his parole from
, that town, and the other a young woman, dresAed in ntan's apparel /
who he had enticed away from her friends at that place. They were
both committed to Leicester Goal; the -former to remain there till
the Transport Board shall order his removal, and the latter, we under-
s stand, will be tried on the charge of aiding and assisting the Frenchman
to escape out of the Kingdom.
About six o'clock on Thursday evening, some excise-officers went
to a house in Circus-street, New-road, where they found a stil at
work. On their entrace, the premises were set on fire by the persons
at work, two of whom were secured. The fire raged a considerable
time.