The National Register.
London, England, 1812-04-19 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

-A WTI, 19.

to meet him as a private person, in the hope that
the interval of ,ime necessary to know the ultimate deter-
minatton of the Executive Council to the answer of Lord
GRENVILLE, a channel of communication being kept
open, a negotiation, which seems to have been unfortu-
nately interrup'ed for the moment, may be the more
ea,ily resumed." These were the exact expressions 'used
• by Mr. CIIAUVELIN ; but the application was rendered
abortive, throuph the inanence of Lord GRENVII.LE. No
ansv..er was returned to the letter ( f the French Minister,
and hostilities commenced shortly after this between the
two Powers. When BUONAPARTE was elevated to -the

first dignity in France, as First Consul, it' was-41-its same
Lord 6,aFAvti.r.E who adv•sed-his MAJESTY tO reject a
propog9l made by the French •Itulei to .open negotia-
tions to: peace. Yet we soon afterwards find this Nohle-
wi',en the SONTERriG/4 saw' meet to: dismiss-him from
his Councils, attaching himself to the =pi,'r.ty-w-iifi had all
along declared against the • war, •and • crying, out :101ider
thin Pay of them, that peace alone could
.save the country.
from perdition ! These facts. speak volumes, and will
enable the nati,ll to decide wh'ether his Lordship•is a pro.
per poison to have any share in the Executive Govern-
ment. It cannot be denied that, the. war has Occasioned
innumer.ible difficulties. A. great portion of .these must
be ascribed to the man_ who so strenuously opposed all
terms of peace with the enemy ; and it is something wcr'e-
than insolence in him to take part in our public debates, or
to appear before the
.Public in any other. manner than as a
corn ri:e sinner, suing for pardon to a nation whose inte-
rests he has sacrificed, and whose best laws he has disre-
spected. The very return of such a man to power 'Would
be tantamount to a decl iration to all the world, .that Bri-
tain wily never again enjoy the blessipgs of peace., From
these pn-mises it is obvious, that the object of his Lordship
in willing again ro resume the reins of Government, is not
the peace, and of c,,tirse not the prosperity of the'country.
Neither need we go very far in search of a motive for his
con.'nct, when we find, that during his administration he
increased sinecures for himself and family from 6,0001. to
30,0001. per annum. Let the nation, before they censure
the PRINCE R EGENT for refusing to commit the helm* of
the State to Lord GRENVI LLE, duly consider the facts
which we have stated, and we are persuaded they will be
inclined rather to applaud than to blame his ROYAL
HIGHNESS'S determin.,tion.

IMPERIA L PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

MONDAY, APRIL IS.

Lord Wellington's Annuity i3ill was read a third time and passed.—
The rest of the Bills on tiu! Table were forwarded, p..!lteir respective
Edges, and the House adjourned.

TUESDAY, APRIL 14.
The Innkeepers' Allowance, and several other Bills, were brought up
from •he Commons.
Gk tY moved for the return of the amount of the notes offered
and refused - t the I •aok during each year since 1797 ; and, by a second
Mou,ln, for the number of foreeries. The increase of the crime was
ore of the c .insequ,!tices of the paper system, for no notes under 51.
r• re issued unit t!1 rectri, tions in 1797. The number of instances in'
l,e,m committed, had continually increased, and one
could n 19r,?: into vie tit:wspapers; without horror at the frequency of
caPj'alpunihmclit f r ti fsCrinte.
LIVER pool. obj...Lted to the second motion, as unnecessary, and
RS tend.vg to show wh,i, rotes might be most easily forged..
Lnl-(1 J LAN n..: t: beneved it to be perfectly possible to prevent
t 1 •~,,.geries;and the complete evention in this country might he
• ccoinp!ished by the Bank Directors on his plan. It had been
v• July said to him, w.rhin a few days, ;lai- the hest way of preventing
tja,e forgeries, wou.d zit!, nut to hang the forgers, but to hang up the
,kink birectors, fur having notes so slovenly made, that any engraver's

241

apprentice, Who had been two years at the business, can imitate them.
—The House then divided—For Lord Grey's motion, 12; against
it, 2.7. _ _

Lord LAUDERDALE moved for an inquiry into the causes why the
sank Directors, after having continued the system of indemnifying
&ma fide holders of forgeries up to 1800, had since dropped the prac-
tice.

Lord LIVERPOOL objected to the motion, and after some conversa-
tion, the sane was withdrawn.—Adjourned. •

WEDNFSDAY, APRIL 15.
The Custom-house Bill, and some Local and Private Bills were
brought up from the Commons, and read a -firit time.
The Marquis of STAFFORD presented a Petition front the Manufac-
turerF engaged in the Potteries in Staffordshire, which, after being read,
was ordered to lie on the Table.—Adjourned.

THURSDAY, APRIL 16.
Lad STAN HOPE addressed their Lordships in a pathetic speech, on the
hardships to 'which the tenantry of Inland were at present subject, front
r the !ystetit of .letting farms to what are called middle-men ; or, in other
words, those who rent lands between che landowner- and the tenant
ivho tills the soil. His Lordship comm“titt d on the abuse of right and
justice by-whith this system was supported, att.:. pointed out instances
i where the same land was often raised six times beyond its originally de-
nominated value. Wile case he mentioned, where the.ori•ginal landlcrd
ltt a faith- year, .which, by process of. time, and the interven-
e
tion.of middle-men was brought to 7501. a year !. All this while the
ori-
ginal findliird was receiving no more thaii.his 901. a year. The griev-
ance did .not cud here, however,'fur the'unfortunate man who tills the
lantls !fable to a distress, not only .to. his own immediate landlord, but
to all the 14ndiord's middle-men over him, so that he was every day
liable to four.times.therent that he originally contracted for. This lat-
t ter grievance his Lordship wished to remedy,. and he therefore moved,
f'" For le :Ye to bring in a Bill to better the condition of the British and
Irish Peasantry ; For," said his Lordship, •` the measure ought to extend
`to both pi.rts of the United Kingdom."
The Ime ti CHANCELLOR ob-erved, that the question was certainly
one which was entitled to the utmost attention; and accordingly the
Bill waS rt ceiyed and read a first rime.