The National Register.
London, England, 1816-12-30 00:00:00

MEMOIRS OF THE JUDGES.

It trill be seen, that in our prevent puldicatiow we
redeem our pledge with regard to the Biographical ME-
MoIR of the CIIIFF JUSTICE of the Court g/' KINO'i
14:Ku's. Ire shall continue with the Memoirs of the
other Learned Judicial Characters with as little inter-
ruption as possible, under the persuasion, that of all the
dijkrent kinds of histo9 the personal is the most inter-
, esting, and that of the personal none con be selected
more acceptable than the Characters we hare chosen, en-
gaged in the awful duty of the uthninistraliou of public
justice in the supreme tribunals of the kingdons.—lre
have already said, that a MENtont of Sir WILLI.% 31
GRANT, MASTER OF THE ROLLS, trill nest enrich oar
(-damns. The ',time will be aware of the labour and
&putty of collecting materials for these Biographical
articles, and will therifire be apprised of th.•
any itiformation which may be Aindly imparted to this
office connected with ibis department of its duties.

What we stated yesterday to be the rational deduc-
tions from situation and circumstlmce, without pretend-
ieg to any intelligence from authority, appears now to
be admitted to be the condition of aflhirs. The Duke
of Wellington has suddenly appeared like a. meteor
within our political horizon, portending. great events,
and has as precipitately withdrawn. In addition to
the causes of uneasiness, with regard to France, of an
external character, we have the interior evidence of
her own natives, and those of them who are best ae-
eu-tinted with their immediate state, and concurrent re-
lations. We allude to the monied interest, which is
necessarily identified with the government from the CHP-
baraasment to which it linsben exposed, and in this con-
nection we have finind a progressive depression of the
fluids, which can alone be explained by a distrust in
the stability of the country. At the clase of the last
year, the cinq pour cent. cons. were at tit, at the con-
clusion of the present they are at 54. A public trea-
sury, which is under the obligation of paying nearly 10
per cent. ihr loans in discharge of its own engagements,
and that to its own subjects on account of its discredit
elsewhere, must be in a predicament so impoverished,
as to endanger the final and fatal catastrophe of a na-
tional bankruptcy.
In the absence of all correct information in the French
papers under the direction of the editorial censors, we
have looked with solicitude to the private accounts, and
we should have been glad to have found them equally
destitute of intelligence, because whatever is related is
unfavourable. A revolution in France must either be
:ccompli►hed by a local insurrection in the capital, or
by a general rebellion of the southern provinces. In
the latter, there are serious indications of a spirit of
commotion, which arc not the less alarming on account
of the affected security in the scat of empire. It is a
fact perfectly ascertained, that in the loyal city of ann-
. dcaux, distinguished by so many privileges, and so lately
ere-emineat in the manifestation of its attachment to
the Bourbons, a considerable number of persons were
apprehended on the 20th inst. during a noctural search,
on the unexpected charge of a conspiracy to restore to
the throne the dynasty of Buonaparte. It is true,
that no similar measures have been yet applied in
other situations south of the ( iaronne or the Loire ;
but it is acknowledged in the letters, that the fidelity
of the people is in several situations questionable, and
the strong arm of government is alone withheld until
such proofs can be afforded as will sufficiently mark out
the disafl'ected anti refractory. This is the expedient of
the skilful practitioner in the chirurgic art, who often
waits until the disease, by its own violence, distinctly
shows its immediate seat and relative position, before he
applies the knife or the cautery to remove or destroy it.
Nothing has transpired with regard to the place of
retreat of the younger Watson ; the ineffixtual search
that has been wale, leads almost unavoidably to the

DE CENf BE It 80.

conclu.icm, that he is concealed in this metropolis, and
all have idr..aidy explained, from the nature and cha-
racter of our lc.ws and constitution, by which hap-
pily domiciliary visits arc impassible, that he may con-
tinue in retreatment much longer without the proba-
bility of discJvery. An examination is tilling place
at the Mansion House, at the moment we arc writing,
which is supposed to be final, prior to the full coin.
mitaient for trial, of tho persons charged with turnultu....
ons rioting. A Special Commission will soon be ap-
pointed, under which their fate will be determined by
a jury of their country, and we shall, in the fulfilment
of our duty, supply that i'aithfal record of the proceed-
ings which the imp ortant:4 of the situation requirus.

On Saturday the Dake of Wellington left his huuse
in Hamilton.place, between I l and I 3 o'clock, on his
return to France, by way of Brighton : he was accom-
panied by the Spanish Ambas,:ador, General Alava,
and Col. Fremantle; he arrived at the Pavilion at 6
o'clock, and was received by the Prince Regent with
a hearty welcome. His Grace dined with the Prince.
General Sir David Baird was one among the numerous
guests invited to meet the Duke at the Evening Party.
A large assemblage of spectators hailed the Duke on
his arrival. We are glad to hear that he appears to be
in good health.. Yesterday morning his Grace, together
with the Spanish Ambassador, General Alava, and Col.
Fremantle, left Brighton, and (according to a letter
which we received last night) proceeded on the recd to
Dover, whence the Duke, with the Spanish General
and Col. Fremantle, intended to sail for France yester-
day evening.
There is a rumour (founded, perhaps, more on the
propriety than the actual intention of such a measure)
that Ministers have determined on a very material re-
duction in the army, immediately.
Lord Hill has, it is said, been appointed second in•
command of the army in France, in the room of Lord
Combermere.

Liverpool letters mention the arrival off that port of
the Nestor from .Ncw York. It is supposed that she
brings the Preside(les message upon the opening of Con-
gress. •
The French Government, we understand, has given-
orders for the purchase of 40,000 barrels of flour in.
America, for the supply of the city of Paris.
The first council of war at Paris has decided on the
charge against Lieut.-General Savory, Duke of Rovigo,
who is absent and in contumacy. Ile was unanimously
condemned to suffer the punishment of death for trea-
son against the king.
The free export of grain from Holland is no longer
doubtful. The letters by the Flanders Mail on Saturday
morning announce, that the laws prohibiting the trans-
mitting of grain to France, and the free export to Eng-
land, passed on the .24th instant. There had been great
rains which inundated the country, and several bridges
had been curried away by the floods.

_ .
By advices from Martinique, it appears that the Go-
vernment of the Island had prohibited, by an act, the
importation of flour and lard. The communication be-
tween St. Thomas and Porto Rico was completely in-
terrupted in consequence of the great number of Car-
thagenian privateers that were cruizing in that di-
rection.

We are in great hopes that the price of grain will he
considerably lower in the course of a short period, as
on a great number of vessels from Holland, Dantzir,
and various other parts in the Baltic.

We have received the following extract of a leteer
dated

" liambur4h, Dec. 16.
" To-day being the anniversary of the birth of his Highness Prime •
Blucher, the club which has been instituted in honour of him. met
for the first time, in one of the halls of the Exchane.e, elegantly deco-
rated and ornamented with a portrait of the Pnnee.
" The ice has detained 32 ecases destined foe our port at Cux-
haven, for several darn. Many h...ve made their way tiaoug;i the
ice to thoir destioathin but with muoh troub:e and danger. It is
hoped others will be equally furl:mate.
" The extraordinary dearness of pryeisior.s has occasioned several
cargoes of potatoes to he sent from llolland to liamburgh."
- -

The Emperor of Russia has lately. imparted a f.ae
flock of Merino sheep from Spain.

One hundred and two men, women, and children,
ettlers, arrived at Quebec on the .)tli of Novi.mher, Hi
she brigs Perseverance and Isabelk, front Stomoway
(Orkncys).
The workshops of the Polytechnic Ils!itution at
Vienna arc now lighted with gas. The cool, which
however is of an inferior quality, is brought from 01-
cnbu rgh

The season of the Year forcibly recalls our attentitn
to the consideration of the London tax upon coals, an
article forming one of the principal cmntiats, not to say
necessaries of life, to the poorer parts of the inhabitant ,
What good reason can be alledgal why this tax should
not at least be equalized? Any travelicr would sturdy
be astonished, if he were to hear that all the windows
looking on the Thames were taxed twice a.; much as
those looking on the Severn or the Tyne ; and why
should his surprise be less, that a double tax was paid
for warming the room lighted by those windows?

TIE C BER 30.

but ,it was causer' by acridcut.and he thought the only blame-
'Wes attached to Mt. Prone for siof informing the last witness,
that he hail placed the bottle of arsenic solution in the place
where formerly stood the Goarey's cordial. He thought
that something might be dose to prevent a recurrence of
such an mrfurtunate circumstance. A short time ago a per-
son IV3i pOi%olloll Yt the east end of the town, now at the west
end. He wished that apothecaries. ate. would keep their
poisons in one particular part of the shop, or in ',articular
°loured bottles, mid the word •• Poison" to be written upon,
them. He hoped thst this event would cause the profession
to use such precaution as would prevent any such unfortunate
circumstance again occurring. Verdict —Died in conse-
quence of Wising a solution of arsenic administered to him
its mistake for (ludtrey's cur dial.

Ivat:Etrs.—An inquisition was held on Tueaday afternoon,
before Thomas Stirling, Esq. at the house of Mr. P. Gordon,
the sign of tits Barley Mow, Dorset street, Marylehone, upon
the bodies of Thomas Durbin, of No. 4. Blandford-mews,
Biandthrd•street, aged 12 years, and John Brooks, the son
of Mr. Brooks,of List-street, aged 10, who were drowned on
Naturday selinight, in the New Canal, at Marylebune. The
deceased and another boy, whose hodh is nut yet found, w e
playing on the ice, at what the children cull horses; The
above boys were tied together with a cord, and the boy who
is not found was driving them, whet: the ice broke and let all
three in. Durbin and Brooks were got one of the water
the next day; they were found tied to a cord as described
by a boy who saw Item drowued. The Jury returned a ver-
dict of accideutal death.
Tuesday afternoon an Inquest was held at the Loudon
Hospital, before J. W. Cowin, Esq. Coroner fur Middlesex,
on the body of an aged man unknown, who was found with
his leg anti aria broken, lying in the street, opposite White-
chapel church, on last Snud.hy night, between 11 and 12
o'clock. It appeared front the testimony of the watchman.
and of the night beadle, that having discovered the deceased,
the former brought hint to the road side, and applying at the
wreck-house foi assistance, he was conveyed to the London
Hospital on a shutter. He was exceedingly deaf, and no
aceount could lie obtained who he was or whence he came.

He appeared in much pain, and cried out that his arm and
leg ware broken. Ms. Higmot, the surgeon's beadle, demos
ed that he died shortly after coining into the Hospital, and
that lie could gain no information respecting him ; that it was
OVilielll 9J1111: carriage had passed over him, and that he died
from the injurie6 he received. Deceased was dressed in a
b:ue jacket, light jean pantaloons, and grey worsted stock-
ings ; be was about live ket three inches high, and apparently
So or 70 years of af:e. 'rite night beadk thought it probable
Le was coating to the watch-house for warmth and shelter.
Verdict—A.:rid/mei Dead.
There was another Inquest held the same day, before the
'gine Coroner, at the Alfred's Head, Silver-street, Stepney-