The National Register.
London, England, 1817-12-22 00:00:00

NEIVSPAPEIiS.

The irregularities which have long prevailed in the
delivery of Newspapers in Ireland, has at length called
forth the interference of the Postmasters General of that
country, and, as will be seen hy.the order which we
subjoin, effectual measures have, been adopted to pre-
vent a recurrence of the evil. Although, in this coun-
try we have less reason to complain on this head, yet
instances are not uncommon of newspapers being de-
tained, us well by receiving houses in London, as by the
post offices in the provincial towns We do not mean
to say they are altogether suppressed, but they are
' too frequently delayed ; and we need not till those
whom either business or id/mess has accustomed to the
regular reading of a Paper, how severe the disappoint-
ment is of even a delay. It is said, however, that to
remove every sort of irregularity in the deliveries, re-
gulations similar to those issued in Ireland, will speed-
ily be transmitted to the surveyors and deputy sur-
veyors in this country.

TO A I,L SURVEYORi AND DEPUTY POSTMASTERS,

'The Postmasters-General finil, with great concern, nut
withstanding the repeated orders which have been issued to
their Deputies, respecting Newspapei s,aioi the arrieigemenis
which they have from time to time made to secure their
imuctual dispatch from hence, that the. Editors of Public
Prints 'save reason to comolain of the irregular delivery and
soppreesion of theca. Whether such failure is illtriblitilt)lt. to
the !,ergOllS entrusted by the Editors to bring their papers to
this Office—whether it can be justly brought in charge
against Deputy Postmasters. or ascribed to any persons con-
nected with them, who, I roin unjustifiable cm iosity, open and
mislay Public Prime, or whether, with or without permission
front their owners, they suffer persons to have access to their
Offices, and to open, real, or take them away, either for
their own use, or for the alleged purpose of delivering the
prints to the subscribers, to whom they may be addressed, the
Po.tmasters General cannot with certainty determine ; but
they consider it to be their imperative duty to establish the
strictest regulations to guard against the repetition of an evil
which, final iiimirrons complaints, it is evident must exist to
a great degree. A Newspaper once confided to the Post
Office, is a:. sacred, in the eyes of the Postmasters General,
as a letter, and it cannot be purloined, tampered with, or
übusitil, without violating the solemn obligation which every
person, entrusted with the Politic Correspondence, is bound
by. Although Newspapers do
terrupteill circulation is immediately connected with the Pri-
vilege of Pat liainent, and while they contribute largely to the
Finances of the C uutry, through another branch of the Re.
venue, the Stamp Office, the Postmasters General are not
unmindful that the property thus contributing to the State
belongs to individuals, whose interest cannot be infringed
upon without lessening the politic revenue. The Postale*
hers Oumerai therefore desire In on iteneef nth .
" Ist.—That where a Postmaster, on opening the Mail, shall find
that arty l'aper which he thinks should have reached his Office has
not arrived, he will, by letter, acquaint the secretary with the cir-
cumstance, and the nameof the Subscriber whose Paper may appear
to be missing.
" 21.—N0 Paper is to be delivered butt to the Subscriber, or to
his Messenger or Servant, known to be such.
'• 3il.—That under no pretence, either with or without the con-
sent of a Subscriber. shall a deputy open and read a Newspaper, pre-
vious to its being delivered to the owner, and, of course. trout under
his official care. If Subscribers are willing that Postmasters should
have the henetit of raveling their Papers, it must be after, nut while
they have official custody of then'.
•• a I.—That no deputy will, under any authority either written or
verbal, twrinit any
,Paper to be opened, and read by any person but
the Subscriber to woont it is addre-sett If Subscribers are willing to
permit persons to read their Paper, it must he after the Poa-Office
has discharged its duty in delivering it to themselves or their Messen-
ger, krown to be such. Post-Offices IllUbt not he converted into
Reading-itoorns, Such a practice, while it mu-:t add to, if not create,
the very evil complained of, atfunls the same advantages with Sub-
scribers to persons who thereby contribute nothing either to the Post-
Office, the Stamp-Office, or the Editor. Deputy Posuna.sters must
not be ia;ents in acts which have a direct tendency to injure onebranch
of the public Revenue, and by curtailing the mrculation of News-
, papers, interfere with the interest of the Press.
" By Command,
" EDWARD S. LEES, Secretary.
General Post-Office, N0v.21,

—______
" General Post-Office, Nov. 2C., lutT.
" Sts,—ln addition to the Regulation directed by the Past.
master*-General to Ise established, its set forth in the printed
Letter herewith !sent, for the inure secure delivery of News.
patters, I beg to acquaint you, that orders ba ve been issued,
that au Officer ascertain, each evening. in presence of
t Mrs.viieern fruit the different Prim! i g-ottiers, the number
octiially received, and shall sign and room an account of
and for this purpose I request your Editor will send a
Card earn evening with your papers, with the precise number
entered thereon. 1 out Sir. our f .ithful sServant.
EDWARD S. LEES, Sec.

Tuesday the Lord Mayor held a Court of Aldermen
at Guildhall, when Mr. John Kirby was admitted on
the nomination of the Sheriffs, to be keeper of the New
Debtors' Prison.
Letters of AdminiAration of the effects of the late
Mr..l. G. Raymond, the player, of i.'llester—treet, Gros-
venor-place, were issued by the Prerogative Court,
Doctors' Commons, on tt.e 12th ult. to Frances Han-
nah Grant Raymond, widow. Lb. property was
sworn under 12,0001.


lOU this, even in crimes when good sense alone. necessary to de-
cide on the existence or non-existence of the fact charged. In (d-
-ances of the press a more complex operation is required. and jury-
erten are not always fitted for judging of such matters. Why should
there be any fear of the ordinary tribunal ? Justice had ever been
tarcisett in France in a manner extremely honourable. 'file exam -
414 of the Englishhas been cited, but improperly. It is not long since
she functions of an English jury were, in regard to the matter, very
illusory. The only qu-scion proposed to them was, whether such
di man was or was not the author of such a writing, And whether
ouch a sentence was in the work. The judge then determined the
sigence. In 1791, a dispute arose on this point between Pitt and
;Vox. The latter succeeded, and juries were empowered to decide on
*he offences of the press. This, however, was not considered us an
*innovation ; for among that wise people every idea of innovation is
constantly rejected. It was merely considered as an acknowledgement
of a right. Perhaps, gentlemen, I might ask if it be true, that this
change in the laws of England was attended with such great and
happy results as were anticipated. I would ask, whether, since
that period, the law of Ilabe.a. Corps' has been less frequently Mi..
Iptllded ;"

In the sitting of the 12th the Marquis de Chauvelin oppo-
-40 the project. One passage to his speech excited an twi-
g/et sal lattgli of sympathy. Alluding to writers whose pens,
Ve said, were restricted at home, and who were forced to
nblish their spreelaiians in foreign jonrnals, lie spoke with
contempillulls pity of tlicir hard ease in being forced to
"sorrow a foreign lanDiagc, and to take two voyages across
she sea for the piartm 4.! of giving currency to a few paltry
please otries or predictions sure to be falsified. He paid,
"%owes -us, some high compliments to the courage and inde-
pendence of those of the French journalists who had the
nobleness of mind to break through the general servility
of the press, oven at the hazard 'of their personal property
and liberty.
Coma Bonnet considered the project of law before the
fit Igniter as one step more towards the liberty of the press,
and lie would thvrvlbre support it in most of its parts. The
rroject moth es, with respect to the point of responsi-
ility—lst, that a declaration shall he made previous so the
printing of ally wet k being undertaken, and, 2d, That in
cert lin ea•-s, the printers and booksellers shall share the re-
soonsibilt! with the author. The speaker endeavoured to
show that iteither of these regitiagtions was necessary, and
that they %could only serve unnecessarily to shackle liberty
nut impede hie progress of literary and typographical in-
clostt v. The liberty of printing and publishing opinions,
*would, he ssiii, huutg since have produced immense advan-
tages, it in place of attempting to prevent the sibnies width
are inseparable from it, care hal been taken to repress, that
is to say, mutini.h regularl;.• and constitutionally, the freqnsta
misdrimmonirs and but rare crimes which may have resulted
from it. Let its never forget that power puts itself in peril
whenever it se to willidraw rights which it lets once ace
tori:ed ! It inherits nothing from the sureties which it takes
assay. and weakens itself in proportion to the distrust which
At inspires. 'lite smetker closed by voting for all the articles
af the project, except the Gth, 7th, Otis, and loth, to which
respectively lie proposed amendments calculated to give a
snore liberal operation of the law, and excepting also the 27th,
relative to the deliberations of the jury, which he moved
should be, solely
TL 1). Villein followed in a speech more tingnalifiedly
against the project, to most of the articles of which he cu_
tered into specific objections. The w bolo matter lie con-
ceived to he comprised in a few words;—that Ministers
stronld submit thentseives to the charter, and that the law
should he executed. " Never," said lac, " was the ne-
tessity of recurring to this mean of safety more pressing.
sae it 1;•otu flue bottom of my !matt that I believe the legit'.
imat;y- and France will be compromised if the present political
a_y:tem is persisted in. Never had the Chamber a more eon-
tikitiatiettal means of inflcencing It incurably the fate of our
'Country." lie concluded with voting for the rejection of the
project ; bat moved that the last law of restriction, which
expires in 20 days, should he proltmged till the lot of March,
in order that Ili oventment might have time to in chore some
other law repressive of the real abuses of the press. [Sup
"suited, supported from many voices.]
M. Raver, spoke in favour of the projcet. The press had
been said to resemble she lance of Achilles ; and it certainly
dill so, inasintich as it wounded, but slid out cute. The se-
ditious writing addresses itself to the passions ; it flatters in
or dot to enchain them. It triumphs in theirexcess ; reason is
often of no avail in stemming lite corruption. Its victories,
teei is of reflection and of time, are always slow. l'ite mutest
brine, therefore, incapable in rcnteclying in doe season the
ttvoiiiithi it snakes, it is necessary that it should be guarded
• •hy proper restiettona from committing thvin.
11, l'on.artt exerted Isimsetf at consinerable length to
Show that the project of law, as it was conceived, wotill have
Via effect of i•t•Fessin4 the liberty, and nut the obtuse of lite
rress.
ill the silting of the Citb, M. Bonniest! observed, that they
'sere net now to determine whether the liberty oh toe press
sires an advantage or an evil
"Itis us (said lic) of a right. By the side of this right the charter
• %a placed that of reptessing by laws the abuses that may arise Amu
it, Although it would be very caul to explain how, bethre the revo-
lution, the enslaved press inundated the I art century with bad books.
adiecting religion, morals, and Immarchy, it might appear very ex-
Irsonlinary that the liberty of publishing one's sentiments diolhot then
Tana in rig/ti. but yet was enjoyed in tact. While under due demo-
cratic, revotntionary, and despotic Governments, that successively
arose in Franc.; the liberty of writing existed in taw, but was nut
enjoyed its tact. This contrast of epochs, of right and of eta, might
serve to prove ihat a people had never less liberty than when it most
tatters itsdf with a belief of' it, and that the assurance of this
liberty reposes more in opinion than tun the laws. The Deputyy. then
*Lammed the several articles of the proposed law, and inquiring of
!be proper tribunal to judge the abusea of' the press, continued.
But, Geutlemen, it is not the choice of a tribunal that is
of. it is impunity that is desired. • What !' said one of the previous
weaker. (M. du Gray) • would you judge of opinion, the Queen of
the wield, as you would judge of mender:sow and vagabonds ?'
Certainly they simild b:•• ju Iged alike, and with welt propriety,
for arc the vaga:nnUa of liberty, and the mendicant distur.
loos of merat order. (A laugh).
Tne example of England has been dted ; but that which
• suit the Eagli-h wo:ild he improper in France. The English
L ave by iasenat'ele gaulations, obtained a constitution and liberty. We
en the contrary, have obtained flout the King, not bit by bit, and at
innate', but all at one, as inac:t, or, p:rhaps, mare situ sty
are able to endure. Sia:c it is the fashion, then, in spite of the dif-
&mace of m.nners, habit, and character, to cite and imitate the
Ifinglish, let us wait use then a c•necy of stablity and prove.
jig, to who& to a
~soy onence of the pr: 3. We require a
-.17 Ir expeielic, to exttcwat: il,amies derived from the
v of the 1,,,av1e, aid all that are to remottet to it.
to add, by way in too.ndluent to audit! ls, " rimy
o the Royal As J ital ill icy soul andronsci.ace
teat re.n panty td the would lie nothing bat licenti-
cAl a. I i.i.trust thews pretended organs of moiblic opinion,
n.ve. be any eling else than the organs of velum and
yplC fat 1.4 faloptsri

?TM

1.

-
M. Casimir Perrier. In seeking to peril:et their eat, Ministers
have fallen into an incoasistenev almost uncauipled. They have
deviated from the rout: traced b theins,:lvia--they hare lost sight of
the principal object ofthe law. They seek to repress abuses, but they
have wished to prevent than ; and in this desire they have gone so
far, that if the law pus in its present shepe, neither abuse nor re-
rression is possible; for even the use itself would be destroyed.—
Applause anti disapprobstion.l If the liberty Of the press be sincere-
y (trailed, juries are the best calculated for repressing its abuses.—
.'!'hey offer, at the sem: time, protection to individieds, and security
to the. Government. I trout call your attention to the last and most
rigeeirous fetter impoied ou the liberty of the press. I speak of the
absolute depaidenee in which the journals are placed by the tempo-
rary law, inserted in the definitive law almost like an erratum.—LA
laugh.l This state of things places the press in the universal severity
—inspires terror in the minds of the writers--enchains their courage
.—and imposes the mostdreadful barriers to the energy of generous
pens. I am not aware of any empire overthrown by the liberty of the
press. l)o they, cite France? France has never enjoyed the liberty
or the press. 'rho t 3 years that have rolled over us. attests only its
oppression and nut its intependenee. I vote against the project of the
law."

--- -
M. Simeon, the King's Commissioner, supported the law
project, and Mr. Hernunx opposed it.
M. Camille Jourdan spoke in favatir of the project of the
law, with some amendments, substituting trial by jury fotigite
Correctional Tribunals, and one year's previous censui-s'iip
the journals instead of three. lie said,of all the laws i espeo.t-
Ma the press which had yet been brought into operation iu
Ensure, ihe low it iw proposed, notwithstanding the numerous
objections made to it, came the nearest to a true liberal sys-
tem. It exhibited traces of a progressive improvement
which was honourable to the present legislation. In alluding
to the practice of England, he
I regret, Genticreni, that I should have to contradict every thing
that has been said by M. the Keeper of the Seals on the English
legislation. There is hardly one observation which might not be con-
tradicted by the monuments of the History of England.
" It hits been told you, that the Star Chamber had been instituted
to repress the licentiousness tit' the press, occasioned by juries. The
Star Chamber, which existed in the mast ancient periods of the mo-
narchy, and renewed by a statute of Henry VII. ascends almost to
the period of the discovery of printing, when there hardly existed a
priss in England.
" It has been told you that this Star Chamber had been consi-
dered by gout ;Mills as a salutary remedy.: but, according to the
testimony of authors, and of the illustrious Clarendon, woo
cannot be saspected of democracy, it but.: been so decried, thou its
name has become the must cruel reproach to all arbitrary and cor-
rupt criminals."
- •

Alluding then to Mr. Fox's Bill for allowing the jury the
milimin.d right of deriding on libels, he said,—
" You have been told, that these powers of the English jury have
been a frequent Mite of the suspension of the hubris Corpus. But
you know well the motives to it—that it. was the fear of the contagi-
ous principles of the French revolution. The suspension of the Ha-
beas Corpus is, on the contrary, that which has redoubled in England
the enthusiasm for the institution of juries, and which has been in
-some degree elevated to the dignity of aptaiti4saisayattuat.
It is since that period that a celebrated Advocate (Lord F,rskine), •
whose eloquence had been signalized in several memorable trials,
covered with tile favours of the people and of the Court, has arrived
at the most eminent dignities. Justly penetrated by the benefits of
the jury, and willing to recall the noblest titles of his own glory, and
that of hit country, he takes for his device these aiuiple and sublime
words, • Trial ty Jury' •
In the course of this speech, M. C. Jordan quoted from
the works of the must enlightened English lawyers passages
referring to discussions analogous to those which now occupy
the Chamber of Deputies. learned recapitulation; and
the piofound 'logic of the speaker, excited general approba.
tion, and bravo was repeatedly cried.—Adjouruecl to Mon.
day.
ITALY.

ROM r., Srpr.23.—(From a letter in an-Evening Paper.)—.
Highway robbery is carried on systematically here, and on a '
grand ecale. At Veroli, a small town 15 miles from this, a
teacher, with 1.2 spiritual seminarists, 'Walking in the envi-
rons, were taken prisoner's by the robbers, and hugged
the mountains. The robbers were polite enough tossend to
Veroli, and to offer to give tip the pupils for 12,000 crowns,,.
and rho teacher into the bargain. A negotiation was entered
into, and 3000 crowns were taken. Several days afterwards.
a young titan, of a thick and heavy make, belonging to Angou,/
was walking with seven male and female relations, and the,
whole patty were taken 200 steps from the gate and carried
off. The alarm-belt of the town, which coutaios "wally 12,000
inhabitants, was rung; the robbers !dew with their pri-
sutlers to the mountains ; the young man not being able to
keep up with them, they cut his throat, and escaped with the
other seven persons. These unfortunate prisoners were at-
terwards ransomed by their relatives for 5.000 scudi. There
arc litany hundreds of these robbers, and their numbers are
daily niece:l,4lg. They have their male and female leaders,
mid receive only people of irreproachable character: the Atm-
veAtigation into morals, and the proof as to ancestry, is very
strict on their reception, as permits of considetatiou take au
interest is it.

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