The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-16 00:00:00

BRITISH AtVitW,

INFLUENCE OF PREROGATIVE?
teitig. an Attempt' to remove certain Poet:L:l,lß Illtscontni,,
respecting the Present State: of the Bum,ii CoN-
S,TITUTIoN and GOVERNMENT. By IloitscE Twiis, Eq.
,I3areister at Law.
(Continued from our Papee of Dec, 7.)

The advocates for a general retrenchment would
have the people believe that influence has much
more than compensated the Crown; both- for the
loss ,of prerogative, and for the growth of the
other two estates. They allow; indeed, (for, upon
hoWever loose an examination of the subject, it is
impossible to deny) that a certain amount of in-
fluence was entrusted to the Crown even by the
Constitution itself : and they admit, that some ad:
dition.to the royal power may have beconieneces-
,s'arv, to make amends f`or the loss' of prerogative,-
and to counterbalance the acquisitions .of the other
two estates : but still they unanimoolv aver that,
altogether, the proportion of influence is now ex-
cossive. Let 'us see, then, in what the alleged
excess consists :" let us inqnire what means of in-
fluence-the Crown at present enjoys, which_ it did
"not enjoy at the settlement of the constitution in
1688.

The influence of the Crown. consists in_ its
power of begtowing either honours or emOhnnents.
Now its power of bestowinghonOurs has certainly-
been in no'rcspect augmented since the revolution.
The Kin from the most inciebt times, was al-,
ways, at the law expresses it; the fountain of ho—
noors. That some of streams from that fowl;
tain ,ire now flowing in channels more "ntniferous
than f9rmerlv, I have already acknowledged in the
course of my dhserrations on the increase in the
numbers of Pee but I llve likewise explained
the reasons which induce me to think that this
multLiplication of hereditary peerages has a, ten-
dency
.to diminish rather than augment the rela-
tive -weight of the executive power. 1.4 on the
whole, therefore, I see no reason to believe, nor
de..cl is' it very strenuously urged eveti, by the op-
ponents of influence themselves, that the Crown
has gained flinch ',strength II that p:irt Of its inau-
ence; which consists in the p.wNer of bestowing
hon Ours.

The 'emoluments. at the disposal of the. Crown
arelst, in the church—or, 2:11y, in the state--
or, idly, in the army or gravy %
Of those in the church, it cannot be reepiisite to
say much ; becauseno one has.ever pretended that
the number of royal arid ministerial livings has re-
ceived any very stupendous addition Slnce the reign
of King William.
It is in the civil state that the great increase of
influence is supposed to have taken place : and on
part'of the subject I will venture to state a
few general facts, which I hope will not be en-
tirely thrown away upon the dispassionate reader.
They are not all new in theirs Ives ;_ for many of
them were presented to the public, by" the Right
fianourable George Rose, about two years ago, in
a most luminous and interesting pamphlet. ‘lsllt-
as that work comprehended a very full det.ail and
exposition of partie!llars, and therefore may pos-
sibly require too much labour and attention for the
common class of indolent readers, 11 have taken
the liberty of • setting down
,the general. results,
with such further information as I have' been able
to collect. The pamphlet, I am well aware, was
severely attacked in the Edinburgh. Review, on
account of certain supposed mis-statements ; but
as I flatter myself that I can "prove the able con-
ductQrs of that journal, to have been mistaken in
in the grounds on which theyimpeaclied Mr. Rose's
accuracy, I am not deterred from assuming his
calculations as the basis of my general ,statement.
Whosoever may he inclined to do me the honour
of exkinining. into the arguments wh:ich:i attempt
to urge, by way of answer to the Edinbnrgh .Ije-
vicw, trill find them in a note, at the conclusion
of this pamphlet: I have abstained from intro-
ducing them into the text, in order that my main
statement may he short; and :simple, and within the
compas's of every reader's patience. .For the same
reasons, I, have -noticed only such sources of in-
littencens are of'a permanent nature, passing over
thole. few, inconsiderable, and scattered items of
expense,. which are merely temporal or occasi-
onal.

Mr: Rose's account comprehends, not indeed
the longest, but certainly the most eventful part
of the period whhich has elapsed since the Revo-
ution : I mean the la'St eigift and twenty or thirty
years. Earlier, than this time there seem to be no
accurate documents from
,the precise in-
crease or flccrease of influence-'cau- be estimated ;
and with the additions of the last thirty years, I
shall therefore begin, reserving to myself the pri-
vilege of,subsequuntly making some conjeetrireY
on the probable increase or decrease of influence
hi the obscurer period which intervened from the
accession of King William to the Rockingham ad-
ministrition in
.1782. •
(To be confirmed.)

CITY BusrsEss.---Yesterday the LORD IiITAYOR
held a Court of Aldermen, which ..was attended by
twenty-on, Aldermen, the RECQRDRR, City Of-
ficers, &c.

The coUrt, upon inspecting tile returns of the
Mealweighers, ordered the assize of bread to be
continued at Is: 6J,d. the quarter!" loaf wheaten.
The precepts for election of,Common Council-
men, and'other Ward Officers, on St. Thomas's-
day were ordered to be issued.
On. Sunday s-e'nnight one hundred poor women
and children, who reside at Waldersbare, and in
its neighbourhood, were clothed trom head- to
foot, in suitable apparel for the winter season, by
the benevolence .of Lady ELLENBOROUGH, the
.amiable hostess of Walder4are-house. The poor
rer•sons' afterwards accompanied. her Ladyship
and family to WalderShare chnreh, and returning
to the mansion, were plentifully supplied with
soup to carry to their respective homes, and each
of them were further relieved with one shilling in
money.

On Monday'. Holsey,Lot Hereford, fot a
c-,usiderable, wage-r.., undertook td ride -his horse
fro i, Worcester :bridge to Hereford markt-place
to two hours. Notwithstandiug the unfavourable,
ftatc of the xveather, and badness of the road, be
completed his task ia 16 minutes less than the
time allowed, without in the least distressing his.
horse. The distance was 28 miles.

; and-. Published In NVILLIANI ARMIGER SCRIPPS, Soul
1r the Paper, Letters tor tire Editor, &c, (post paid),

-12,‘(,),--ix,-'O,

The match letwecu Lancaster, the pdf,i4,
who fought Holloway, the Battersea gayden-..r,
few mouths since, and George Copper, a navi-
gator*, and tt proutisin,,,,-, candidate for TellO.Vll 011;
the fighting list, took Mace yesterday,. agrze3%.!,.;
to appointment, at Cdombe-Vidod, -where gich- ,
mond, Silverthdrne, and otherS had signalised
them selves. The usual cavalcade from
James's, Westminster, and Duke's-place, was
in motion as early as nine o'clock in the morning;
and a ring was formed at tweL:e. Whetherhin-
caster anticipated detcat..from his- sturdy adver-
sary, remains a secret, bin ho came with seen:-
ing reluctance about au hour after the -appointed
• The couthatants stripped' and set-to-id •
good trim, with Richni-ond and Jones seconds t. d.,
Codper, and Cropiev and Lancaster, sen for -
caster. ,

. In the first round a rally was commenced by
Lancaster, veho planted a hit on Cooper's head
which was half stopped, and the latter returned
tfe hit with a violent blow•on his adversary's
tied:, with Which he went down. In the second
round Laneastei plariteda left handed hit on_ his
adversary's nose,-but he failed to lunge at the
sarae_time With the right hand, sad he was hit
hard in the throat again. During the:fight,
Lancaster made but.little_use of hiS right band,
and from the steady compoeed fighting of Cooperi
he had great advantage, under the tuition. of
Ridhtnond, in parrying with the right hand, anti
lunging at the same time with theleft, which also
seemed with him most oifensire.

After a sharp contest of seventeen minutes and
a half, Cooper won the battle, having received
some suiart hits about the head, but not to be
collua:cd with those received by his adversary
`Lancaster had superior length and equal weight
with his adversary, and although he 'stood over
him, yet he had to combat with a steady tWo-
handed fighter, who had ikcquired science sufficient
to parry and return with briskness, which, must
maintain itself against a one-handed lighter of
equal weight-.

UNroNJlALL.—Benjamin Towers was brought
before the Sitting Magistrate, charged with hay-
in.: in his possessiti stores belonging. to his Ma-
jesty. It appeared, that in consequence of infor-
mation received, Collingbourn and alennon went,
to search the defendant's premises, who keep
Old iron-shop in Kent-street, and) in a chimney-
place in a back-room, they found an half
-hundred
weight of nails and. spikes, &c. covered over with
some rags ; they wei.Call marked with the brohd
atio'V. The Solicitor for the, Admiralty attended,
rand stated, that on account of the defendant hav-
ing been convicted before of a similar offence, he
slawild.feel- it his duty to press for the full penalty,
which, the value of the stores now found not ex-
ceeding 2.05. was 10/. He was convicted in tht
penalty and costs accordingly.
John Fisher was also charged with a silnilar of:
fence. It appeared that the officers had infOrtnm-
tion that the defendant had a quantity of hemp. in
his possession, which had been iniproperly ob-
tailied from some fishermen near Raultside : ,they
went to his-house, and on searching discovered a,
considerable quantity in aliet state.: The offiCere.
were also snformed that a quantity of temp lased
been removed from the defendant's house the
evening before, which they traced, to li...entstreet,
In searching the defendant's house, they disco-
vered an .half hundred weight, marked with the
broad arrow. The Solicitor for the Admiralty,
this, being the first offence, only pressed for half
the penalty, 5/.3 but the Magistrate not beiiu
satisfied with the account given by the defendant
of the manner in which he o:btaine4 the hemp,
fined him the farther stun of 40s. and costs, tin-
der the Burn-boat Act.

A most disastrous and afflicting accittent Trap—
pened at Chichester on the morning, of S'imaay
se'nnight :---Mat. Quintock, Esq. wa3 skaiting
a small pond:in the environs of that city, and. just,
us he had reached the centre thence: broke, and
he sunk, never te rise again but as a litele,,s corpse.
He was an expert swimmer,. brit ill Nu:o a cala-

initotis situation, it could, iiT# aiford him any re-
lief. Every means were .used th'e faeutt7, aS
reOminended by Dr. Haire burthe vital spark
bad departed.•

BI

'On the 9th inst. at 1.-le/lot-row, Edinburgh, the Lady of
ntjor-General the Hou. Aie.i&!“.le.z..,Dttlf„.of a Syn.
tie ozh inst. tits Lad} 41. Jawei .161;nst1one, Esq. of
Alva, of a Daughter. . .
Yesterdaymerning,_ the Lady 3. F. '..ichsoder, I.of
Crutehed-friars, of a Daughter. . - •

D.
At Newark, T. T. Terrewes.t, l‘lajeir of the 4th Not-
ting.ham Local :villitia; Miss dai:ghter of M.r.
of that liorou;li.
On- fhtirstig.y last. at Alle-Aey, the Rev. T. U. Mapleton.
Rector of Christ Church, Surrey-, and Vicar if Wfiaddon,
Titcks, to Lliiti-.betht o dv daughter.of the Rev.W. Bice, R-Fe-
tof . ' •
Co Saturday, at Ptitriev, T. Chapman; F4q7 Surgeon, of
‘Tauslsworth, to Miss C. :::oapman, of Putney.