The Sun.
London, England, 1825-09-15 00:00:00

IMPROVEMENTS NEAR. ST. PAUL'S.

Yesterday a public meeting was held at the
'Horns Tavern, Doctors'-commons, in order to take into consi-
deration a plan of improveivents proposed by JAsrEs ELmEs,
Esq., architect, in order to render St. Paul's church-yard re-
gular throughout its whole extent, to form a new street from
New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, in •a. direct line to the west
grand front of the Cathedral, and two lateral streets to open,
full views of the north and sogth porticoes of this magnificent
building.
The-Chairman, Mr. SLADE, after regretting his. inability,
assured them of his zeal. He rejoiced that this plan, which
,had been proposed 2.5 years ago, had not been called into opera-
tion till now that it bad fallen into the bands of able persons._
He was in -possession of the original flan of that great archi-
tect, Sir C. Wren, which was to make a street from St. :Dun-
stan's church to Whitechapel, by which they might see St.
Paul's and Whitechapel, and quays from London-bridge up
wards. These, however, had been frustrated by petty and
partial jealousies, and- he trusted that would not be the case
with the present project.
Letters were read from the Archbishop of -Canterbury, the
Earl of -Liverpool, the Dukes of Devonshire yid Bedford, the
Chancellor of. the Exchequer &c. &c. some consenting-to be-
come Vice-Presidents, and others declining, .but ail .approving
of the plan.'
The Chairman here thought-it best that the architect should
explain his plans, which he did from a plan before ban. in
doing so, he remarked that he could'have made the improve-
ments much more magnificent, but he had wished to combine
beauty, utility, and economy. He propored,a square about the
size of Chatham-place, at .the-west front of St. Paul's, in the
centre of which, the committee for erecting the statue of the late
"King had consented the statue should be2.placed.
A series .of resohttions were then. read and, agreed to, to the
effect that it was desirable to throw open the view of St. Paul's
Cathedral; that the formation of the intended new-streets would
improve the trade of the shopkeepers in the neighbourhood,
many in vthe ornamental branches of business having been
compelled to migrate to the west end of the town, and that a
Joint Stock Company, with a capital of one million sterling,
'be established, by deposits of W.- per share, and increased by
51. deposits, of each of 30 days' notice to be given. It was also
proposed to open i'direct communication from the Old Bailey
to Apothecaries'-hall, leading straight from Smithfield to
Blackfriars-bridge.

TITLE Or .Tll E EMPEROR OF RUSSIA

It is a fact not generally known that the title
of Emperor
.was conferred upon PETER the
GREAT by the' English Government. -In his
" Journal from the year 1698 to the conclusion
of the peace of Neustadt,"Trinted at St. Peters-
burgh, from the manuscripts corrected by his own
hand, we have the following account of the trans-
action, which obtained for him the Imperial title,
and -which :also occasioned an Act of Parliament
to be passed for the protection of Foreign
Ambassadors end their servants from arrests
for debt:—At that time .0710) Mr. Whit-
worth, afterwards Lord Whitworth, envoy
extraordinary from Queen Anne to the -Russian
Court, received the title of Ambassador -Ex,
traordinary,ond on tlJe sth of January he had a
public audience, at which, by order of,the Queen
his -mistress, he employed the title of Emperor
in speaking to his Majesty ; and in the letter
whicit the ambassador delivered from-the Queen,
the same title was-found, instead of the ancient
-one of Czar. 'The cause of this embassy was to
-excuse-the affront which had been offered to the
Russian ambassador, M. Matheow, In England,
-as' having been-occasioned by aToptilar commo-
tion in favour of a merchant. The fact is as
follows :—When, in 1708, this ambassador was
' directed by his Court to quit _London, and pro-
ceed to Holland, he gave notice to-his creditors
to make their several demands, which he imme-
diately discharged ; excepting a *.certain intri-
cate and exorbitant account of goods which.were
charged several hundred pounds sterling above'
their worth. This he referred to some of his
people directing them to examine the goods, and
estimate their true value. The merchant, how•
ever not considering M. Matheow as an Am-
bassador, but treating him as a private gentleman,
and without ivaiting for the. result of the 'exami-
nation, or the consequent answer, caused him to
be.arrested in his coach, in the midst of the city,
land carried to prison. Some hours after, when
Ithe -foreign Ministers were informed of this trans-
action, they made complaints to the Court, treat-
ing -this attack as a common -outrage, in which
they were all concerned. The Ambassador was
consequently soon released, and complained high-
ly of -this treatment to the Queen ; but with-;
out waiting for her answer, or even heraudience
of leave, he set out for Holland, agreeable to
his former instructions. _Besides the apologies
made by the Queen, in the letter written by her
Majesty, the Ambassador added others in the
speech which he made in the presence of all -the
foreign Ministers, and, of a very numerous audi-
ence; declaring., at the same time, that he made
comand, and drat
Atlitieese excusesyoaght
t-bbeycohensr Majesty's m
idered as if pronoun ced by her-
, self. After this audience, the English Ambassador
had several conferences wit hiheßussianMinisters,
at -which the difference in-question was terminated
to the satisfaction of -both parties ; and instead of
Ahe discord which had nearly arisen between the
two Courts, the ancient friendship and harmony
were fully re-established. It will be observed,
that -several particulars relating to this transac-
tion, -which have been mentioned by English
writers, are not noticed in the foregoing- state-
ment; but it agrees very nearly with the narlative
published by Mr. Whitworth, in his ‘' AccOunt
of Russia."

.Mr. K tAN last week performed in 'the Isle of
Man !--(Tyne Mercury)