The National Register.
London, England, 1822-07-01 00:00:00


The following is a copy of a very singular docu- '
anent, namely, a letter from Mr. Saurin, while At-
torney General of Ireland, to Lord Not bury.° It
was picked upon the quay of Dublin about 10 days
ago, and is now deposited with Mr. O'Gorman, as
security to the Catholic Board. We are assured,
from a quarter on which we can rely with perfect
confidence,that there is no doubt of its authenticity.
It has made a prodigious sensation in Ireland:—
Dublin, August 9.

Don Lunn NORDUItY,—I transcribe fur you a very
sensible part of Lord limse's letter to met—
•' As Lord Norbury goes our ci cuit, and as he is personally
actiainttal with the gentlemen of our county, a hint to him may
be of use—lie is in the habit of talking individually to them in
his chamber at Philipstown, and if he were to mipre.,s upon
them the consequence of the measure, vis. that however they
may think otherwise, the Catholics would, in spite of them, elect
Catholic members (if such were eligible) ; that the Catholic
members would then have the nomination of the Shetills, and in
many instances perhaps of the Judges, and that the Pmtestants
would be put in the buck ground, as the Catholics were formerly.
I think lie would bring the ellect of the measure home to them-
selves, and sa:hfy them that they could scarcely subuni, to live
in the country if it were passed.'
So- fir Lord lb isse ; but what he suggests in
another part of his letter—
" That it' Protestant gentlemen who have vote', and influence,
and interest. would give these venal members to understand, that
if they will purchase Catholic votes, that by betraying their
country and its constitution they shall infallibly lose theirs, it
would alter their conduct, though it could neither make theft
lionc,t or rcpectable."
If you will Judiciously administer a little of this medicine to the
ling 's County, or any other Members of Parliament that may
fall in your way, you will deserve well.
I spoke to Moore, relative to the O'Brien suit; he must get
fee for the brief, and be satisfied. I shall take care of it.
Many thanks for your letter, and its good intelligence. from
Mani Biro. Jebb is a most valuable fellow, and of the sort
that is much wanted.—Affectionately and N
truly yl.uors,
SAUIt I N.
• This is the letter alluded to by Me. Brougham in the House
of Commons on Friday night.

SWEDEN.—By accounts dated the 14th of June,
received from Stockholm, it appears that Sweden has
sutkred, and on the same day, two dreadful confla-
grations. On the 12th, at a quarter past six in the
morning, a destructive fire broke out in the city of
Stockholm, in the quarter of Blasieholmen, nearly
the centre of which fell a prey to the devouring
flames. Tho Stockholm church, the school-house,
the badge of Skepsholmen, together with all the
magazines of firewood, planks, coals, tar, &c. and
many vessels, among which was a large English brig.
have been consumed, The loss estimated by the
merchants alone is estimated at from 400,000 to
500,000 dollars. That of the Crown, arising from
the destruction of' the latter magazines of corn, has
not been ascertained. Two days after this calamity,
advices were received at Stockholm of the occurrence
of a still nulre terrible conflagration in the city of
Nordkiping, which had consumed nearly 400 houses
and two churches. The fire was still raging when
the courier left Nortlkioping, so that the full extent
of the damage could not be known. The English
brig burnt at Stockholm, was the Chalks Williams,
of 350 tons, belonging to Shields. It was com-
pletely burnt to the water's edge ; and the captain,
with his wife and crew, with difficulty escaped with
their lives.

Fiaas.—On Friday night last, between 10 and II
o'clock, a fire broke out in the premises of Mr. White,
boat-builder, near Fountain-stairs, Rotherhithe, which
in a lew minutes became very alarming, particularly on
account of the houses near it being mostly of wood, and
the street, or passage near it being scarcely 12 feet wide.
n her of engines soon arrived, but, owing to the
scarciry of wider, could rendet but little service, and the
flames continued ►aging with the utmost fury for about
20 minutes, when the premises were entirely destroyed.
About this time the aditining premises, occupied by M r.
Evans as a granary. which were extensive, and heavily
stored, took fire, and burnt so furiously as to bid defiance
to all efforts to stop it progress ; the whole of those pre-
mises were also destroyed, together with the stores con-
taimd in them. The Old Justice public-house caugh►
fire, and fortunately w is soon got under by the firemen,
had this louse been consumed, the consemieuce must
biv iren dreadful, as the adjoining premise: are all of
wood, and in so mauled a situation as to render it al-
most impossible to render any assistance. The property
destroyed are very great, and, it said, not insured to Ilea
the :lamina. Another tire took place on Sa'vrday morn-
wee n one and two o'clock, in the premises of
Mr. Fear'', silversmith, corner of Adam-sirect, Adelphi,
which iu a short Moe entirely consumed the same,
together with a great part of property.
A Monsrsii.—On Wednesday morning last, about
twu o'clock, the ery of murder was heard by the watch-
MCII arid passengers on Hollsorw bridge, as if proceeding
trom the shambles in Fleet-market. Several persons
Hew to ascertain the cause, when near the end toward►
Holborn they saw a female, very genteelly dressed, who
was in a state of insensibility, and streams of blood were
flowing front her. On being questioned, she stated, that
her Hanle was Martha James, that she lived at No. 4,
Peter-street, Clerkenwell. Just before she called out,
she was accosted by a tall man, dressed very genteelly,
apparently in a blue coat and white trowsers, who en-
deavoured to persuade her to have something to drink,
and, upon her refusing, he caught her an his arms, ..nd
forcibly carried her to where she then stood, and a'r er
ill-using her in a most shameful manner, he with a sharp
instrument inflicted a wound at the bottom of her sto-
mach, awl then ran of as fast as he was able. She was
taken to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and Mr. Curtis,
the house-surgeon, was called up, and on examination,
a ,31..1b, about half an inch in length, and of the Salle in
d. pat, Was found uu the right side of the abdomen.

TIIE NATIONAL REGISTER

PREROGATIVE COURT, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26.

PRINCESS OF CUMBERLAND.
On this cause being called on, Sir J. Nichol! delivered


the judgment of the court.
The learned Judge said, this was an application made
to the court for power to call the King's Proctor to see a
paper, which purported to be the last will and testament
of Ins late blajeety, propounded and proved in solemn
form of law. The Proctor fur the party making the ap-
plication alleged that his laic Majesty died on the 20111 of
January, 1820, leaving his eldest son, his present Majesty,
Iris lawful heir and successor, entitled in right of his
Crown to all his personal estates unglispoeed of ; and thin
his late Majesty made a testament, dated the Yd of June,
1774, by which he beupteatlital to his niece Olive, (laugh-
ter to his brother of C berland, 15,0001. which sum he
comminuted his successor to pay, lint did nut appoint any
executors, nor dispose of the residue of his property.
The Proctor, ill support of these allegations, put in-:he
testament so alleged, and also several Affidavits in support
of it, end prayed the court that his Majesty's Proctor-
General should lie cited to appear, and do as to law and
justice appertained. The testamentary paper was al-
leged to be signed by his late Majesty, and witnessed by
the late Mr. Donning. An affidavit ulnae party, praying
the assistance of the court, was also put in, which stated,
that on the evening of the 13th of May, 1815, the Duke
of Kent being then at her honse iu Seymour-place, Lord
Warwick called on her, and after obtaining front her and
the Duke of Keel a solemn declaration nut to disclose the
matter lie was going to communicate till after the King's
death, he iutoi wed her and the Duke of Kent of her illus-
trious birth—that she was the daughter of the Doke of
Cumberland, brother to his late Majesty; and that a
paper in proof of the fact was left in his possession by the
fate Lord Chatham, tied the Rev. Dr. Wilmot, to be kept
private till the demise of the King. The learned Judge
here read the paper, which has been often before the
public, and said, the only question at present before the
coot t a • :, whether the court was warranted by law to
issue the process prayed fur. It was scarcely necessary
to say, that issuing or a ithhobling the process was not a
matter of choice or discretion in the coma, Litt of justice
and ditty. It was not, however, necessary that the court
should tow decide on all the pails of the allegations—the
rights of the Sovereign to dispose of his persanal property
by will,would be a matter that would come more formally
before the court in another stage of the proceeding, sup-
posing the court to grant the process prayed for ; and the
genuineness of the testament would be the final roestion
for its consideration; on these points, thervfore,the Coal t
abstained from piononocitig any opinion. The allegations
state, that his late Majesty did not appoint any executors,
nor dispose of the residue of his property, to which his
succesaur became entitled, in right of his crown; and the
paper propounded commanded hula Majesty's heir and
successor to pay the AllOO of money now claimed. This,
therefore, was nut a claim made on any subject, bin a
direct demand on the present reigning Sovereign; and
the process prayed for was, in fact, against the Suvereign
himself, although in form it was to cite his Majesty's Proc-
tor. The History of the Wills of the Kings of England,
from the time of Alfred the Brent to the present day, had
been examined by counsel; sad no instance produced of
probate of any of them being taken in that court, much
lest of probate being Liken as against the reigniug Sove-
reign. One instance sass on rector] iu the Roll.; of Par-
liament, where it was stated, as in the rii-t year of Henry
the Fifth, that Hem y the Foul th having Wade a will, and
appointed executors, whir refused to set, ft tuu .tit appre-
hension that the effects would net be sufficient to pay the
bequests, it was agreed that the At clibishop of Canter-
bury should order the effects to be sold, for the purpose
or uk;sti Rennin ; which, however, was prevented by Henry
the Fifth taking the effecta, and toying the value ter
diem, to be applied to the !imposes of the will. la that
case subjects were isiterested as executors, and filet e is
no case which has any, the least, analogy to the present in
a space of 400 years. 'lire only royal will found in the
records of the coin t is that of Henry the Eighth, a copy
of which is deposited, probably fur safe keeping; as it
does not appear that piobate of it was ever granted or
applied ler. It wits the object of die statute of the 2 ith
of !leery the Eighth to cut off appeals to Rome when the
reig g Sovereign was become the head of the Church,
but not to subject hint to the ordinary jurisdiction of that
court. If trite, as argued, (hat by the constitution of
this country the Sovereigns at all times possessed ;lie right
of making their a ills ; and in the fifteenth of it4Chard tite
Second there was au eutrs in the rolls of pat liament that
Mugs might lawfully make a testatut lit ; and some
stances had been produced, particular ly that of Citange
Use First, who made a will, yet no instance could tic timed
of probate having been granted, which mast be coied,:ered
as strong evidence that the cum t had im jot isdiction
Archbishop of Catiterbury'a Court of Prerogative had
no connection with the prerogative of the crown ; it was
a court oh inferno jut isiliction,and liable to be cont fettled
by the Mites Courts of Chancel y and the Excliegner,—
'ilie learned Judge here read Itlackstem's iICCOOiII of the
rights and prerogatives of the kingly oilice—the Kiug is
supreme head of the realm in all matters civil and eccle-
siastical—lie can do no wrong—lie caftan)* even imagine
any wiuug. To call on the King by the present process
and pun him in contempt fur disobedience to the order of
the court, was too (Atudvagant to he thought of, therefore
the petition was that the King's Proctor should be called
On; but the difficulty was the same ; if the King's Proctor
represents the King, lie cannot be pia is contempt, and
if he clues out, he cannot loud the King. Diem was no
precedent for making the King's Proctor a delendatit to
bind the Kiug in personal matters—lie was the King's law'
agent in that Count to asset t the rights of die King, but
not to appear as a defendant. The King may voluntarily
become a plaintiff, butt cannot be made a defendant by
compulsion. The King can do no mous, and if applica-
tion be made accept ding to the four of the constitutiosi,
real justice will be done. What the real justice el tile
case may be, the coott has not authority to decide, and
is, thereture, humid by law to reject tire player of the
petition.

Orders were received on Saturday last to equip his
Majesty's yacht, the Royal Gorrge, fur his Majesty's
personal use, it being his intention to resume his
aquatic excursions within the Isle of Wight, imme•
diately after the rising of Parliament. His Majesty
has ginu up all intention of visiting Seuthuid this
year.