The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-05-15 00:00:00

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people. Tt mode die erlinialitenats of junk*
odious instead of awful-..and rendered those who
were condemned to death objects if fel‘low-feellug,
and almost ..r affection." It wee sea ponder wry
*sold receive such a Petition from the tow* of
Liverpool. the comity of LlMCagler being tree of
those districts in which forgeries most generally
prevailed. To that Petition, so remarkable for tbe
soundness of the proselytes laid down is it, sad far
the peapiesiity wish which they were stated, he beg-
*al to call the particular attention of the Flntise.
(The Learned Gendarme he,. reed the Petition
presented from the town of Laurence, a few even.
jogs sis•ce, calling en the Howse to impair, into the
mauls of preventing the forgery of Bank of Eug.
land notes—amd expressing their determination, if
their prayer was not complied with. to institute
country banks, the notes issued from which
were rarely forged.]—Liverpool, imastiused the
Learned Gentlemen. was the wend commercial
town in the empirel-and„ at a meeting of men.
chants, comprising gentlemen of all political*.
itions—a meeting at which enemy of the supperams
of the Right Hon. Gentlemen took aa active prat+
it was agreed, if some remedy were net devised,
that recourse should be had to, traisoray hawks. A
Petition coming from seek • ghee ought to have
great weight with the !bias. The et
that town, since the isulteraduele 171"
had favoured the paper of the Batik of England to
such a degree, the country banks were sloven ens..
tinily banished. But such was their souse of this
artist rail. that they had overcome their poiudloo.
end declared. if it were not mitigated thud the
would have recourse to country bank.. When such a
body called on the House of Commons, as the
Great Council of the Nation, to discuss this point—.
when they said, that. to remove the evil, they would
give up Bank of England notes—the House of
Commons could not, with impunity to its charac-
ter, refuse to attend to their observations. He felt
himself more seriously impressed with the import•
ante of this question, ie consequence of basing
read the summary. prepared at the Boast °ace.
of the state of crime for the last seven years. It
was a most nselaischoly statement. It Agora, on
increase of crime. which no real well-wisher of the
country could see without the deepest regret and
alarm. No (account of defeat in war—no statement
of the fuilure of finance—could affect • person, who
knew the tree foundation of national greatness, so
touch rs this shocking detail. It appeared from it
that the number of .capital executions (and every
thing else corresponded), from 1805 to 1911.
amounted to 390-. and, from 1911 to ISIS, to Mr
being one-eighth of the number of persons area
demised to capital punishment. So that the re-
turns afforded a correct standard of the rate of
increase of crime in England. He did sot mesa
to ergo.. that the quantity of crime in a coo,-
try was a fair criterion of its morals. Countries,
where the people were possessed of great euergies--
where speculations were iinuseroas—where tempts..
lions ion eousequence abounded—were, of course,
characterised by a greater degree of crime than
those nations which hail little spirit, and which
tould scarcely he said to exist. But it by no means
followed that the general morals of the latter were
superior to those of the former; the contrary was.
perhaps, the fact. However that might be, the in-
crease of crime, in the sent nation, must be con-
sidered a prover standard for judging of the
wane of morality. He should say, as a Right
llottourable Gentleman opposite had dime on • for.
Boer occasion. that the unfortunate change in the
morality of the people of England, seemed Warne
rather from political causes slum from that revolu-
tion in their character to which they had been some-
times referred. Variation of wages, fluctuation in
the price of commodities, circumstances connected
with the existence of an inconvertible paper money,
which made the ignorant and Pimple, observing such
changes, without being able to ascribe any causes
for them, imegine their foetuses were the sport of
some malignaut demo., and caused them to assume
a character averse to industry—a gambling charac-
ter. which they were taught by the viciesstudes of
long war—by an unexpected peace—and by that
worst of scourges that could befit a nation, on
Meaty/ruble paper money. which no country ever
supported but this, aid by which this country
had suffered the deepest injuries—circumstances
of this description it was that had affected the
morality of the people of England. He would
mention out fact, illustrative of the loss sustained
by small tradesmen in towns, in consequence
of the practice of forgery. A tradesman in the
parish of St. Mary-le-bone was required to Poi
51. Bank of England note, alleged to hors
been received Irons his daughter. Lk diallesh
The case was brought to trial in the • ifeeshelssa.
Court. The fact wits, that the chugs was found.
rel in a take, proceeding from the revemblance
i:f his daughter to Emma Connori so notorious in
the annuls of the crime. This hod since beat dis-
covered. The man was cast in the snit, and cost•
dimmed to pay slot only 51. for the note, bat also
.'3l. cost 10.1ng in all oaf. from the resemblance
of Isis child to os utterer of forged notes.—(Hear.
hear, hear.)—On massy °captious people would
'ern tenet such charges, from the apprehension
of so.picion; but that woo the smallest pert of the
etml. He would new proceed to the mere
itts-
uiediate part of the subject. It was absurd to say
that the Bank ought to be esempt from the inter.
limner of the Legislature; as well might his Me-
jests'. Mint cline, the exemption. The evil to
the reduction of *kith his motion use directed,
had hero growing twenty yea's. The Batik had not
tat'' pal% " against it (he wished motto he
sisimisolanonu); they bad taken abondatit.precau
I."'"eo .I.Clite themselves, but not to guard the
The liability of the public to be deceived
mud plondertd, erns nowitsgrearnein the year 1797.
Tne , tli.refore, bids right to inquire whe-
ther Ow procer,trtilivai insaaoldiable causes, or the
vdrelo..*:,t,is and supineness or' the Bank. Inquiry
was art rssnry to direct our judgment in time to
tome oil the propro.ty ar imptopnety of continuing
the rrktriction on ca.h prjrfiente. It was °et"'
wiry to acquit the ftiveroore of the erank . sus.
piriOn its the ties of the ranialaltity ;la Wit, fleet's.*
Ili order th vgisethee•th* shedding of
1•'•4""1 might not he restrained, and • slop lint to
I test eerneee stolen was • disgrace to the cottony.—
f•.'etw)-fisolissry u.ss material to the lives, 'no-
velty. Itmottlit P, as,d morality of the people.—
Fir by oo me4i:t ;mewled to impute Unworn con-
-16" to the Edith—but he could nut Oppose the