The National Register.
London, England, 1817-03-03 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL. REGIgrIT.R.

Almost every subject is at present involved in that
of the Bills now pending hi Parliament ao intimately
connected wish the dearest rights and iuter..sts of.
Englishmen The pratitaa (imam-des, and the turbu-
lent spirit of treason whlch their writings and speeches
have enkindled throughout the country, have breight
upon us a measure, which, but for their violence, had
never been thought of. under our existing circumstan-
ces, foreign and domestic. It is fitting the people should
every where know what are the privations we are about
to stiffer for these person'.: sake. We• will therefore ex-
plain, in the word:: of Mr. Csthbett himself, the nature.
and character of the Habeas Corpus, the suspension of
which will, in all probability, have been decreed, by a
solemn act of Parliament, before the publication of our
next number. " I will explain clearly," says this artful
writer, in his "-pamphlet" of Saturday, " what the
Habeas Corpus Art is. You all knave that, according to
the laws of 'our country, no man can be sent to any
prison until lie has been brought befit/v. a Magistrate ;
and then the Magistrate cannot send him to prison un-
lea; there be evidence upon oath against the accused party
nor until the accused party been fully acquainted with
the nature of his alledgpl crime, and has been heard in
his defence, . and confronted, or placedlnee he face with
his accuser before the Magistrate. Then when the man
is, after all this, sent to prison, there must be a written •
warrant of commitment sent with him : and in that war- •
rant the nature Ville MaliS alledgcd crime must be clear-,
ly expressed.
"This is•the law of the land, and most excellent is
this law ; for, if' a man could be seized and sent to
prison without these precautions, who would be safe ?
And, in order that this most necessary law• may be
duly attended to,. there is another law for prevent-
int, any neglect of the observance of all these matters ;
and this law is usually called the Habeas Corpus Act.
It is so called because the Writ, which I shall speak of
presently, begins with. these tat o Latin words, Habeas'
Corpus. This act enables any man who may be put into
any prison, or confined in any manner, to apply to a
Judge ler what is called a writ, or command, to bring
such man before the Judge, that the Judge may hear
his complaint : and then the Judge, if he finds that the
man has been sent to prison, or confined without all the
necessary evidence and forms before-mentioned, is•obliged
to order the prisoner to be discharged ; and the prisoner
may then prosecute the persons who have imprisoned
him, or kept him shut up, though it be only for a short
space,of time.
"Now, you will see how valuable, how precious a part,
this is of our laws. This act of Parliament, is justly
called the Personal Safety Act ; for, without it, as you
will clearly see, no man's person is safe, except accident-
ally ; fur, if Magistrates, or any body else, can take up
any man they choose, and send him to prison without
evidence upon oath, without his being heard in his de-
fence, without his being colfronted with his 4rCli"fre,
without a written warrant stating the nature of hiy of-
,fence, without any limit of time, and without being able
to get a writ to be brought out before a Judge to have
the cause of his impriso.unent enquired into; If this be
the case, what man. can possibly regard his Person as
being in Safety
Yes, " true.heartea Englishman,' even to this have
the principles of Cobbett, and the practices of those
" who have acted upon them," brought us all ! We
owe it all to these double-distilled Refiamers—these
Reformists of the reformed—these political agitators of
great questions amongst little. people.—Oh! how
they rejoice in secret ! this is just as• they would have
it—they delight to " fish in a muddy stream"—they
want nothing. better than extreme measures, for they
themselves furnish the pretext. for them. Their "little
nostrums and big blunders" have thrown back the 1:
cause of Reform, as the violence of some Irish Anti-
Vetoists have done. thatof CathulicEmanciyation, many
Sessions.

The once sacred and endearing words—" Liberty,"
" Freedom," " l.maucipation," " 11.,:vortm," they
have contrived to bring into eontempt, by having used
them as so many countersigns to the factious and re-
bellious amongst the me....iest, because the: basest, dregs
o human society. These 111C11 abuse all parties, con-
found all sects, and all associations.. The fbllowing
most sophistical, wicked, and intriguing jargon, in
Cobbett's yesterday's number is.a proof of this. Speak-
ing of the. Report of the Secret Committee, he.says,
" with regard to Clubs and Associations, I 010 not see
where the prevention is to step. We have Pitt Clubs,
Whig Clubs, Clubs to suppress Vice, Clubs to detect
and punish Thieves, Bible Club►, School Clubs, Bene-
fit Clubs, Nlethudist Clubs, Minixlen Clubs, Spencean
Clubs, Military Clubs, Naval Clubs, Gaining. Clubs,
i..ating clubs, Drinking Clubs, Masters Clubs, Jour-
neynaats' Clubs, and a thousand other sorts of clubs
and assuciatious." And thus are lus renders .entlea-
vourtal to be seduced into u IYilef that there is really
no mereharta in " Spenceau Club:.," Gaining Clubs,"
Hampden Clubs," " Drinking Clubs," and a thou-
Sand other such clubs and L4::..N-lation.;,". than iu so-
cieties for the St.ppression uE Vice, School .Socitaies,
Bible Soci_ne.s. aml the numerous religious, moral, and
cliarimblo u.:Nio,..4tioLui of Alethollivs.mul others. •

MARCH 9.

We mention these matters not so much to put our
readers- en their guaad against the base subtleties of
these men, as to expose, as fur as lies ittusur power, the
miserable- shifts they are put to, in order to screen
themselves from the offixts of the Bills now before
Parliament for the " suppression of their vices."—
Averse, however, as we.all are to the suspension of
any ix>rtion of our liberties, the good and the wise, the
peaceable and theeloyal--all these who mind their unit .
business and " meddle not with those who are given
to change," have for themselves nothing to fear by
this temporary resignation of a portion of our con-
s:ite tional sights into the hands of the present adminis-
tration. Fur, according to lackstene, us cited by this
sl.me writer, " sometimes, whom the state is real.
danger, even this may be a necessary measures But
the happiness of our constitution is,
.that it is not left
to the executive paver to dettrmine when the danger
of the state is so great, us to retake this measure expe-
di:nt. For-the Parliamnt only, or legislative power,
whenever ir sces•pr.isr, can withori:le the Crown,.by
suspending the lleheas i.orpur /'net for a short and .
limited time,. to imitrison suspected persons without
giving any reason thr so doing; as the Senate of Rome
was wont to have recourse to a Dictator, a- magistrate
of ab,olute authority, when they judged the Republic
in any imminent danger. The decree of the Senate,
which usually preceded the nomination of this magis-
trate, dent operain consoles, ne TIN respeldien deter
menti capial,' was called the senates remsaPum ultimt
necessitatts- In .like manner this experiment ought
only to be tried in cases of extreme emergency ; and in
these the nation parts with its liberty for a while, iu
order to preserve . it for ever."
That there is dangerto the State to be apprehended
from the present disposition of thy lower, that is, the
poorer class...Ft of society, who are goaded on to acts of
violence, partly by their distresses, but more by tin
wiles of " wicked and designing men," few are now
disposed to dispute ; and the chief, if not the only mat-
ter in debate, is about the best means of preserving the
peace of- the realm, with the least possible danger to
the existing institutions of our free constitution. In:
this point of view only aces it appear that the Suspen.
sion of the habeas Corpus is regarded-with any degree
of fear and jealousy by those who arc indeed " true-.
hearted Englishmen." We have an aversion-to violent
measures of every kind ; and on- this account we look'
with no small degree of suspicion, and even dread, at.
the nature and tendency of some of the • Bills now
pending in Parliament.

- The love of power is nearly co-equal with what Dr.
Young denominates " the Universal Passsion"—name-
ly, the Love of Fame. We shoulii, therefore, always
guard with extraordinary vigilance, evert• step toward
arbitrary enactments, towards plae•ng unlimitted confi-
dence in dr! mercy, the justice, and the discriminative
powers of any human being, or .of any number of hu-
man beings collectively, short of the common consent
of all well-disposed citizens:
And we have the•grester dread of this measure from.
the conviction that it is really the secret wish of many
mischievous spirits, that this Bill should pass into a
law. Desperate .men rejoice in desperate measures ;
and nothing is more congenial to the views of the att..
tidly ambitious than sneis 'steps as are likely to stimu-
late rather than allay public irritation. Our present•
legislators are certainly place.l in a most perilous situa-.
thin. May they "be wise us serpents, .and harntle.s'
as doves r.

The debate on the motion tin. the Abolition of two,
Lords of the-Admiralty was highly interesting: it war
in its nature popular, and involved questions of great.
political inqx.r,ance. At fist sight it appeared rea-
sonable that in time of pease. when so much less busi.
ness. was transacted ut the Ad Araby, when fewer ships,
were in commission, fewer L this could transact the
business, and, in this season of retrenchment, u saving
to the state might be etfect,A. Such. reasoning cm -
Lindy appears plausible : but. to this it was very justly
objected, that a Committee appointed by the flow*
was at that instant diligently employed in selecting
mid arranging objects of retrenchment ; they had made
considerable progress in their labours, and by what
they had already done, had given the best pledge and
earnest of' their being both competent and desirous of
carrying into effect the object of their appointment ;
that it was invidious to tale the charge out ut their
hands, by selecting isolated objects ut retrenchment
when they are abwt to present, in one. emtprelensive
view, .u.perfeet statement of all the raretichments ca-
pable of being carried into execution. la this argil.,
ment there certainly were reason and justice. On poli- •
tical grounds of a .higher nature, it was contended by
saute Members of Administration, that to limit the
number of the Admiralty Lords la five, was to unuitmh
in an undue proportion,. the inductive of the Crown,
which, front various causes. UPS. of late greatly dimi.?
nished ; that it was nocemary to make pr.:vision our
rising Statesmen ; an.l twat the tra.le of patics, it' it
might be so teamed, wa, a less pi.itiful trade than that
of the law or most ut. er prefer. ions; that fur a century
past, the number .of AdutiraltyLoLis had never been
less than seven; which-wan. a. presumptive argument..

xiAnc H

that =niter in ir:tce or war mad 'lt less number be
dispensed with; that nothing in thc.a3 tine:: was to be
apprehended frau the influence of the Crown, Ihr that
the time of Sir Robert Walpole'a Whig. Administra-
tion there were upwardi of' one.hundred servants sala-
ried by the Crown, whereat at present there were less
than half the nunakr ; bat, above all, that from the
public-36°n of the debates, public opinion had erected
itoaf into a pawned' engiar,-which•goyerned every de-
partment of the state, and• from the general diffesion
of knowledge, and illumination.. of the age, was more
than a counterpoise to any supposed increase of the in-
fluence of the Crown. topics were urged with
gmat eloquence and ingenuity of applitien ; but how-
ever plausible in theory, we fear the generality of
readers • will deduce from them 'an inference hostile to
the spirit of retrenament, the favourite order of the
day—and c.,e only a wish to perpetuate the evils, real
or supposed, -so generally complained of

Tar KiNo's th:ALTll.—Saturday morning', at nine
cicloek, her Majesty, accompanied by -the Princess Eli-
zabeth, left her palace for Windsor-castle, for the:pur-
pose of holainT, a Council upon the state of the King's
health, Tzreeably to the directions of the Regency Art.
Her Nl,ijesty ocrivei at Wia.laor P. few ailnutes after,
I 1 o'clock, and pnmeedel to •rislt the King. At .12
osclOck the Queen ben a Council, whicli was attended
else by the five physicians, who made their report. The
faliowing bulletin was agreed upon:--
•• W,.1.N0r Castle. March 2.

" His Majesty 11.691 enjoyed good bo Idly Dc I:tn, sad bas
I.oPli in a Very tranquil ditring the l.ut month, bet
Dis;esty'fl die rdar is unabated "
On Wednesday evening the Duke and Duchess of
dtmeeeter gave their first grand entertainment since
the imnroveinenta and enlargement of Gloucester-house.
The dinner party, at 7 o'clock, consisted of the 11 seal
Amity only The Qnecn and Princess Elizabeth were
receiver tat the d.e,r by the Dake and D ate O-
a by Colonel Dalton, Colonel Higgins, Colonel Cotton,
Mr. Cnrrcv, Lady J. Thymic, and La lv Charlotte
Wynne Belasyse, being the whole of their snit. The
steward, the pages, &c. were in attendance. The Duke
and Duchess of York, and the princess Sophia of Glo-
(-ester, came also to dine. At half-past 9 the Queen and
Royal party rose, and went up to the drawing-raotai
which, with the whole of the State apartments on the
first floor, were brilliantly illuminated, and prepared
far a numerous party who were invited to meet her
Majesty to a dress party at 10 o'clock : at that time the
company began to assemble, and were received unit con-
ducted to the Qeeen,. the Duke and Duchess, MT the
Royal attendants. The Queen retired at 19. o'clock, and
was conducted to her carriage by the Duke of Gloces-
ter. It was one o'clock before all the company bed de-
parted:
Her Majesty** birth-day was celebrated by Lord
Stewart, at Vienna, on the tith init. in the most selen-
did mannzr. The entertainment was hononrel with the
presence of the Emperor and Empress of Austria.
Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, the Usher of the Black Rml
in the House of Peers, had an-interview on •Saturdav
with the Lord Mayor, nt the Mansion-house, ix his
official character; and, it' we are rightly intia-mol, the
purpose of his s isit wa; to request his Lordship's at-
tendance, and that of Mr. Alderman Geodbehcre, at
some convenient time, at the bar of the House of Peers,
to give evidence as to the nature of the institution to
which they mutually belonged, .and which is designa-
ted in the Report of 'the Secret Committee.. This els-
plication was made to the Chief Magistrate of the City,
principally in consequence of what his Lordship said on
Fri lay at the Common Hall, with regard to the con-
tents of the green-bag, the construction put upon -them
by the Committee, atel the circumstances of the tumult
en the '2(l of December.
Th '21,1. Exchequer Bills, as they are termed; were
issued on Tuesday by Government ; and notwithstand-
ing the low interest they bear, they already yield a
pr-olit of 4s. premimn in the money market.
The navy estimates have been printed, and the whole
amount is. 1,805,0491. 4s. Bd. It is curious that the
amount of the half pay, and of 'the superannuation*, is
more than two-thirds of the whole surest
It is understorsl that the trials of Preston and others
accused of high treason will not take place till next
Sessions, when another Special Commission 'will be ap-
pointed..
On Saturday se'nnight,about 11 o'clock. 18 men were
taken up, under a Sheriff's warrant, in a small pidslie-
libuse, at the head of the Old Wynd, and lodged in gaol
fdr examination. It is understood they are charged with
having met tin- treasonable purposes. On being-question-
cd as to the object of their meeting, they declared it
was solely with the view of concerting measures for as-
certaining the question how -fur they were entitled by
law to parochial relief. A schoolmaster and a writer's
dark .were in the compaoy ; the rest were very poor
people. Six ma -e men of the last description were taken
up by warrant in the course of the night. Nothing has
transpired as to the particulars of the charge upon which
they have been -apprehended, nor is it known whether
there are to be any more arrests at present. We have
received the names of the i.ersons apprehended, but ab-
stain from publishing them till we shall sec whether
they, be fully connatted.—Giasgoghlicrald, Feb. -

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

SIVRE-KEEPER GENERAL'S. OFFICE►.

According to the Statement of The primeedings of the
Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, it appears, that,

. -
on the 9.3 d May, 1816, the Committee stated, " That
from wiiat they had learnt of this deparment, they had
little doubt but that much had been saved to the pub-
lic by its institution ; and they were not enabled .at
present to recommend to the Treasury its abolition, or
the reduction of its strength."
A letter having appeared a short time ago in the
Morning Chronicle, enquiring whether any reduction
was intended in the StorekeepereGeneres Department,
the above extract from the Minutes of the Lords of the
Treasury may b, deemed a sufficient answer. Though
we have no immediate means of ascertaining the exact
sum annually saved to the public by this institution,
the fbllowing detail, given from official authority, may
sorve to throw additional light upon this subject ; and
as there are writers • enough in all conscience ready to
had fault wi than public men and all public institutions,
it is fitting and just that those who as yet have escaped
the jaundiced effects of political prejudice, should each
throw in his mite in support of such of their measures
as may demand particular attention, and claim the jest
mead of approbation. This valuable and extensive de-
partment of the Crown, was founded by John Trotter,
of Soho-square, Esq. in the year 1787. The following.
sketch is given from authentic official documents.
During. the American and former wars, the order for
providiter military stores, were addressed by the Secre-
tary•at. ril'ar to the colonels of regiments; their bills
were then given into the War Office—the articles were
charged at certain fixed rates forehe. full esta6lisliment
of the regiment, whatever might he the effectives (some-
times nor half)—in the event of their not being used,.
they were never accounted fore- if at all used, no en-
quiry was made as to their condition for Thrther service, •
and a new set was invariably ordered for the next' cam-
paign—this was the.general rule.
On the oceation of the Dutch Armament in 1787,
the service was considered so pressing that the supplies
were ordered of Ms. Trotter—on the caseation of this
armament he proposed that they should not be sold, but
stored fur further service : this proposition was much ap-
proved of, and upon .a subsequent arntament, in 1790;
the• none articles were in re:elinesst or public service, but
not then usel—in 1791, they were brought into use
at lingslan, when that encampment was formed to try
the merits of Mr. Trotter's 'private tent. since ton venal-
ly adopted. Upon breakin; up the encampment they
were again stored, anti in the following year, they weee
()nee mare brought forward in aid of the supplies wanted
in consequence of the wet. with Franee..-
Soon after -this •it was found that the regimental
agents could not provide. the camp necessaries at Mr.
Tro, ter's prices, nor so .eetieditieusly as • the service re-
Tired ; and, from the year 1794, they were supplied
by him exclusively, under the ordeal of the Secretary
at War.-11e thee availed himself of the occasion to
correct old abuses, liv serommending that camp neeese
saries.sboald • be issued to those regiments only weich
were destined for actual 'service, and in proportion to
their effretiers only :—and mereover, that, at the close
of the campaign, they shoald be returned into the near.
est ' store, to be repaired for future service ; and that
they should, by such attention, be made to serve a Series
yeUrN, instead of'one oniy, and, when considered en-
tirely unless, be sold for the public account.
These proposals having been approved, it became
part of Mr. Trotter's plan to abolish the distinguishing
colour of regiments, in the tents, flags, knapsacks, &c.
which, hencefbrwanl, considered as equally applicalile
to any regiment, could not properly carry the partici'-
, lar mark of one ; and to construct the several articles of
the same shape, size, and pattern, so that every separate
-pert of each, might apply equally to the relative part
ofevery other article of the same description—any strap,
accordingly, rAll now fit any canteen ; the lid of any
kettle will tit every ketle in •the service ; the tipper half
of every pole the lower cf any other, and . the. like in
endless instances.
If precision in this respect be enforeed, selection only
is requisite to render useful every part whicli is .service-
able, in whatever centbsitne ers state the whole may be.
returned into store ; but if the smallest deviation in size
or pattern may beaubisitted,. it is obvious that articles
in part deficient become altogether useless ; the good
effects ef,this provident system will soon be lost, and
the depot will contain a -contused mass of stores. which
though, serviceable,. cannot without great trouble and
expense, be brought again into use.--'phis system is
likewise introduced into the packing department, where-
by the expores of transportation are readily checked.
The tonnage of 'sinking; a:al storehoust s required for
Hie service are easily ascertained, and the issues are in-
, stantenvous, as the invoices arc made out by number,
not dsy name, which serve the double cads of secrecy'
and evisy distribution.
The stores ere depreited. in districts. where they lire
most like* to be used, by slow, ap, and sea-
sonable mem:arcs, which preclude more expensive
modes. Regiments marching to a-distanse leave their
heavy baggage behind, and receive others at then. place
of destination, suited to the service they are on—this
saves the necessity of harassing the farulsr, tasrlutps iu

a

seed tune—a iiteasure useless. expensiv.:. and destruc-
tive v.) the article itself.

The stores placed in these depots were those of the
Commissary General's department, arms, medicine,
clothing, together with barrack and transport stores.
Mr. Trotter, in 1807, recommended his cousin for
the superintendance of the depot, to which he was ap-
pointed tw 1808—and the rest of his numerous clerks,
porters, &c. belongiug to the establishment were, also,
at his request, included in the new arrangement.
The Storekeeper-General's Office, now in Great
George Street, was originally in Soho Square, though
at that time the premises did not bear that name. They
were merely the warehouses and depot of Mr. Trotter,
who, although he did not contract with government for
the supply a
,the army stores, sold to them whatever
stores they required, and deposited his immense sto:k in
those extensive premises, now occupied by The Bazaar ;
an institution which owes its origin to the same aetivo
and banevoleat mind.

CONTINUED UNPRECEDENTI D RISE IN TILE MINDS.
—The prices of Stocks are above .‘.2 per cent. higher
than on Friday. Consols for account on Saturday week
67h; at twelve o'clock this day 681 About a month
ago they were 6:24.
The Habeas Corpus Suspension-Bill did not receive
the Royal Assent on Saturday, as expected, nu amend-
ment having been made in it by the Commons, which
is to.be talon into considerutiorr this day in the House
of LordS. relates to the extension of the powers
of the Act in Scotland, as well as in England, to per.
sons committed for treason, upon a warrant signed
by six Privy-counsellors, or one t)f the principal Secre-
taries of State. As the Bill originally stood, it extend-
ed to persons committed by any subordinate Magistrate.
This very important amendment was made in the Com-
mons, .while strangers were excluded on Friday, at the
instance of Sir Samuel liomilly.
We understand that the Lord Chamberlain has in-
timatectto both Theatres, that if the present dispute is
improperly prolonged, he shall consider it his duty to
prevent Mr. Booth from appearing on either stage.
Two reports from the superintendant of convict slaps
state the morals and general conduct of their prisoners
to be is a state of progressive improvement.
A paper has been laid on the table of the House of
Commons, by which it appears, that the number of per
sons who in the last year, by reductions in their expen-
ditare, have exempted themselves from the liabilities of
the aasessed taxes, is less by 13 than the number of the
preceding year.. The only two articles'in which there
appears to have been greater retrenchment this year than
in the lust, are the articles of gigs or two-wheeled car.
riages, and-of dogs; though even here the excess amounts
only to in one case, and sin the other.

" The wife of a baker, who was with her husband on
Friday night in the two-shilling gallery of Drury-lane
theatre, lost n new velvet pelisse from her side worth
about 141. This perhaps, may operat e I,a useful lesson to
her not to wear any thin!, so much above her station. If
this be the case, the thief will have done as much good as.
harm." So saysthe Timespaperathis morning; but tho
we agree with the writer in his reproof to the person'
for wearing " things so much above his station," we.
utterly condemn the inference that the thief can in ant.
sense have done as much good us harm ; for it is never
good to do harm, and, in fact, nei her the thief, the
Times, nor ourselves have :my right to meddle with the
dress of bakers wives; or of the wives of any other•trades
people.
Count Lieven is preparing a superb fete for the re—
turn of the Grand Duke. Nicholas.
On the door of Srr Francis Burdett's home in Picea..
dilly is attached a board, whereon is•written "Etapty
house." A wrag, passing, wrote undirne.tth the follow-
ing words ;—" Beller than a bud tenant."
We have received the important intelligence from
Glasgow, that on • the 2'2d instant, by an order of the
Sheriff and Civil Authorities there, I 8 persona were
apprehended on a charge of seditious practices, and cont.
nutted to prison. They were taken in close consultation,
Five or six more who were present, camped. They
were persons, we. understand, much above the lower
orders of people. The above information was confirmed
in the .House of Commons, by a communication from
the Lord Advocate of Scotland. We regret to add, that
his Lordship spoke ofau.oath of a most diabolical nature, •
as being. taken by the Conspirators.