The National Register.
London, England, 1819-05-03 00:00:00

may be boldly asserted, that the sums of which the
public are fleeced in this manner, are nearly equal
to those which are raised fur the public service. It
must, therefore, cease to be matter of surprise that
industry languishes; that the middling classes cent-
plain so bitterly of the severity of the tides; sail
that the industrious poor are reduced to a state
nearly bordering on despair. This picture, loaded
as it is, does not present the whole of the evil. A
spirit of improvident expense and heartless dissipa-
tion, through the cair4ispie of the public ministry,
runs through every pagof.society. Vain and hol-
low ostentation is the of the country. The di4.
sipation of the govern Z t has nearly. ,extinguished
every principle of frugality; and the public in gene-
ral imitate the vices of their rulers .in exyniding
beyond their income. Where all this will end, it is
easy enough to foresee; and the country, if it be not
reasonably arrested in its head-leng career, will add
another to the list' of•tbase States, that have fallen
from the summit 'of greatness to a state of the ut-
most degradation. The remote avprehension of
such a fall ought to rouse every energy and call
every virtue into action. The bare probability of it
should alarm the rich in particular; fur the country
would not sink without a struggle, and its convul.
sions might be terrific; perhaps end in throwing off
the vicious humours that enfeeble and disfigure it at
present.

In compliance with a Requisition to the High
Sheriff of Devon, a County Meeting was convened
on the QSd inst. at the Castie of Exeter, for the pur-
pose of considering the propriety of petitioning the
Legislature against any further conces4ons to the
Roman Catholics. O❑ the High Sheriff taking the
Chair, no person was prepared to support-the Re-
quisition, and an adjournment was moved by some
of the friends of Catholic Etnaacpation ; hut at that
moment Mr. Prebendary Dennis entered out of
breath, and after being adowed a few minutes to re-
cover, moved a Petition to Parliament against the
emancipation of the Catholics, which was at last car-
ried by a considerable majority, though there was
move,l no amendment to the Petition proposed by
Mr. Dennis, that the Petitioners relied implicitly on
the wisdom of Parliament, to grant such conces-
sions to the Catholics as were consonant with justice
and the security of the empire.
The Committee of Finance have presented a se.
cond report, which relates to the Army Estimates
for the current year. They camraence by congra-
tulating the House that the• state of affairs in Europe
continued to preserve such an appearance of tran-
quillity, as permitted the withdrawing of the Army
of Occupation from France. The measure had ne-
cessarily led to a great diminution of the military
force of this country ; a number of men, equal in
amount to the whole army returned from France
having been either reduced, or placed under orders
for reduction. Of the home force voted in the esti-
mates of last year, a reduction of 9,142 rank and file
has taken place, which, in addition to those reduced
after evacuating France, will ultimately effect a di-
minution of force amounting to 34,t IS, officers and
men. The amount of reductions actually effected
last year, amounts to .26,042. The total number of
men estimated fur the service of the present year,
erdurivcl.• of those to be employed in India,
autounts to 69,794 men. We have mentioned above,
the actual reduction which took place in the course
of last year. The-aggregate of reductions made in
the last two years, amounted to 55,802, officers,
non-commissioned officers and privates. The total
sum to be voted for the ordinary services of the
Army fbr 1819, mounts to 6,5112,802/. 12s. 3d.