Star.
London, England, 1831-04-28 00:00:00

the UNITED KINGDOM.

FRIENDS AND FILLOWXOIINTRTMEN,
DEPUTED by the inhabitants of Birmingham to
aupetintend their political interests, we think it our duty to ad-
dress you at this great crisis of our country's need.
Our gracious Sovereign has nobly discharged his duty tote. Let ue
not be unmindful of our duty to Aim, and to ourselves. Unawed by
the clamours of the Borough fiction, and unaeduced by their wiles, our
gracious Sovereign refers to us the arbitration of our own fate. Honour
or shame ; liberty or slavery ; prosperity or adversity s—these are the
great alternatives before us ! Between these it is given us to take our
choice. And can we for a moment hesitate upon the choice which we
shall adopt ? If we do, there is no fate which is too bad for us. We
ought to be trampled into the earth.
Our noble King sets at defiance the threats and machinations of our
enemies. His Ministers exhibit patriotism and public spirit unequalled
in the history of the world. His patriotic Nobility--auth illustrious
men as the Dukes of Norfolk and Devonshire, and Lords Grosvenor,
Cleveland, Fitawilliani, and Radnor, volutUarily surrender borough
patronage of the value of millions sterling, in order that they may do
justice to us! And shall we not do jussiee to ourselves.
Friends and Fellow-countrymen i—By the liberty which our fathers
tamed with their blood--by the long glories of our dear country—by
the duties which you owe your King, your children, and your-
selves—by the hoarded wrongs which you have endured—by
the British hearts which you have in your bosoms—by the suffer-
lust of millions of your unhappy countrymen, ridden down un-
der the hoof of a sordid and remorseless Oligarchy, we implore
you to come forwird, and discharge your duty peacefully, legally, and
effectually, upon tfili great occasion. Forget for a while all private
interests, all private arihnosities, sad all private friendships. Let dust
be offered up on the altar of our country's safety. Let no violence or
dilct)rd contaminate your meted cause. Let no private cares or occu-
pations prevent you from coming forward at the GREAT CALL of a
PATRIOT KING.
FRIENDS AND FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN, FREEHOLDERS Or
COUNTIES, CITIZENS AND BURGESSES Or ENGLAND, SCOT-
LAND. AND IRELAND—We Implore you not to suffer any CANDI-
DATE to be returned to PARLIAMENT at the ensuing Election who is
not a thorough friend of RFToRM, and who will not openly pledge
himself to support all the great provisions of the BILL or Bureau
brought forward by his MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT.
By acting in this way you will ensure the liberty and the happiness
of our beloved country. If you neglect this great opportunity, long
Years of anarchy and revolution await us.
May Coo nuns THE KING, and grant him all manner of prosperity
.n this world, and bring him to everlasting happiness in that which IN
come! THOMAS ATTWOOD, Ch-i m
(By Order of the Council,)
BENJAMIN HADLEY, Secretary.
iiini,inghair., April 25, 11131.

COLE'S PATENT TRUSS.—We recommend those
who require the aid of a Truss, to peruse' The Gazette of
Health,' Ott the modern treatment of Rupture. Published by William
Coles, Truss Maker to his Majesty's Forces, 3, Charing Cross, and
sold by Sherwood and Co. and other Booksellers, price 2d. Whisk mntainv the opinions of Sir Amity Cooper, and twenty other Su=
on the propatits of the above patent, as also the testimony of
private individull. who have been cured by wearing them after the
whet kind, of Truss had failed. The Gazette is a single letter, which
Mt. Coles will forward (gratis) to any pert of the world. Letters must
postlaid.

• LITERATURE.
POLAND.
At the present period when the patriots of this country ate strugg-
ling to extricate themselves from the galling yoke of all grasping
Russia, and who have excited in the breast of every one, who has a
love of country, the strongest feelings, and a most fervent wish that
their cause should be successful ; nay, eminently triumphant, and they
may trample on the neck of their enemies ; every thing respecting the
gallant Poles, and the unfortunate Stanislaw', their sovereign, cannot'
fail to be interesting.
" The wealth and jewellery, 'in the Kremlin at Moscow, I visited, is
such, as almost to exceed belief, and absolutely to dazze a beholder,
this place being actually piled to the very ceiling. One of the most
interesting to the lover of his country, and who feels for suffering
humanity, and if not the most valuable relics, is the crowns of
Sint; of Poland, with the Mein of the order of the While
Eagle. No man can look upon this diadem without giving a sigh
to the fate of that most unfortunate monarch, whose dominions were
so scandalously and most unjustly wrested hem him. When the
struggles of this country for its noble independence and liberty are
called to mind, and the way and manner in which it had been ever.
powered by the forces of Russia and Prussia, Ind that high bravery dis-
played by a distinguished leader, in resisting their acts of spoliation
and usurpation, well may we exclaim, that
• Freedom 'Wished,. Aim 11Caseioneke MI I •• •
Never let it be blotted out of our recollection, that this mild and most
inoffensive monarch was forced to lay down his crown, and become a
stare prisoner, while his kingdom was cut up and partitioned ;—ass act
of oppression, nay, robbery, which must one time be repaid by that
Almighty Being, who has said, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay."
As a refinement, too, of tyranny and hardness of heart, this degraded
Sovereign was forced to be palatally present at the coronation of Paul,
and tamely to listen, while it was proclaimed to the work!, that the in.
dependence of his kingdom was to be extinguished, and incorporated
with Russia ! Overcome with grief, so great was his agitation of mind
on this °cession, that he almost dropped down on the spot. After submit-
ting to insults, taunts, and treated as the most worthless of characters,
by those who had plundered him of his all, and the seizure of his royal
person, he died of a broken heart in 1798. Insults continued even
after his eyes had been closed on this wield, for not only his royal robes,
nay, but the whole of his very clothes were brought to the hammer, and
actually sold by public auction s at the same time shedding crocodile
tears, and acting the part of a most accomplished hypocrite, the auto.
crat embraced his coffin, attended his funeral, and went through all
the farce of " mimicking sorrow." All true patriots, whatever may be
their country—every one man I say, who has one spark of feeling for
others who ate stripped of their property, trampled upon, treated as
slaves, and the very uffscourings of the earth--must raise his voice, and
loudly condemn, nay brand with infamy these unparalleled acts. In
fact they were just as base, cruel, and manifettly unjust, as if a person
were to invade his neighbour's estate, forcibly make him a prisoner,
transport him to a distant land, and cut and carve and divide his pro.
perty between himself and hie abettors. Let us watch, however, for
that day of retribution, when these invaders must disgorge and surren-
der what they have so tin justifiably laid hold of, and be chastised by
those against such arts of tyranny, robbery, and oppreesion.

RICE PAPER.
Although this substance is known to many persons, as a very beau-
tiful substitute for paper, and even preferable to it for making many
kinds of drawings, and manufacturing artificial flowers, it bas generally
we believe, been considered an article that has undergone some prepa.
ratory process, and, being misled probably by its European name, the
idea has gone abroad that it is composed of rice. If this peper be held
up between the eye and the light, an exquisitely beautiful cellular tissue
L observed, such as no art of matt could product or imitate. Its mode
of preparation is a subject of much interest, es is the stem of the plant
from which it is cut. The latter is evidently herbaceous, hollow in the
centre, with a membranous transverse septum at each end, so that it
appears to be the branch of a stem. The diameter is about an inch,
sad the thickness of the parenchymatous substance is I:ttle more than
half an inch, but of the purest possible white.
It was Dr. Livingstone who first brought from China to Europe, 4
quantity of this substance, which be presented about twenty-five years
ago to Miss Jane Jack, who was celebrated for the beauty and accuracy
of her artificial flowers. Formed of rice paper, they obtained addi.
tional celebrity, fetched very high prices, and were eagerly sought after
by persons of the greatest rank and most acknowledged taste. For a
bouquet which Miss Jack presented to the late Princess Charlotte of
Wales, she received the regal present of 701.
When Dr. Livingstone first procured the rice paper from the Chi-
nese, the pieces did not exceed five inches square ; they were dyed of
various shades and colours, and cost about sixpence each square. Since
that time the price has been much reduced, and the size of the pieces
increased, so as to be upwards of a foot long, and five inches across,
and preserving their natural whiteness. The tinted pieces are employed
by the Chinese for their artificial flowers, and the plain white, for
making drawings upon. Now, this material is so much esteemed
throughout Europe, that it is in request with persona of all nations who
visit Canton.
The same substance being also known in our possessions in the East
Indies, General Hardwicke, a gentleman whose long residence in
India, and whose ardent love of natural history gave him opportu-
nities of studying botanical science above what others have enjoyed,
drew out the tollowing account:
" I am very glad that it is in my power to give information res.
peering the substance known under the name of rice paper. It has
often interested me, and gratified my curiosity, to remark, to how
many useful purposes it is applied by the natives in indict. It grows
abundantly on the marshy plains of Bengal and on the borders of
jeels, or extensive lakes in every province between Calcutta and Hurd-
war. The plant is perennial, of straggling low growth, and seldom
exceeds a diameter of two inches and a half in the stem. It is brought
to the Calcutta bazaars, io great quantities, in a green state ; and
the thickest stems are cut into lamina, front which the natives form
artificial flowers, and various fancy ornaments to decorate their shrines
at Hindoo festivals. The Indians maze hats of rice paper, by cement-
ing seipetber as many leaves as will make up to the proper thickness
—in this way any kind of shape may be formed- —and when covered
with silk or cloth the hats are strong and amazingly light. It is an ar-
ticle of great use to fishermen ; it forms floats of the best description
to their extensive nets. The slender stems of the plant are bundled
lint* (oscines of about three feet long ; and with one of these under

A more obnoxious subject than the one under considera-
tion, could not well be selected for a government impost.—
A tax upon intelligence is among the last to be resorted to,
by a well principled government, or to be endured by a po-
pulation having pretensions to any thing beyond the mere
name of freedom. But tardy conviction has at length thews
that our state of national existence has long been one of
habitual encroachment and corriptian on the part of the
former, end of delusion and political degradation on that of
'the latter. Important changes are in progress. Under the
reign of an honest alai popular king, and the presidency of
a cabinet, devoting its last energies to the reform of our Le-
gislature; with a population unanimous in making common
cause under leaders so distinguished; and the vast body of
reformers (throwing aside their differences for the moment),
joining under the banners of our new ministerial leaders;
and all acting as one against the hydra of corruption, with
the three hundred and one heads it has boldly raised against
so powerful a phalanx ; the enemy is about to be engaged
in his last strong holds of desperation ; and we have the
prospect, at last, of being free.
We do not propose here, to enter on an extended disser-
tation upon the liberty of the press; but we may lay down,
as a general principle, that, as it Wan instrument employed,
more or less, against all governments, so must all govern-
ments be, in their hearts, hostile to it, and anxious to keep
it within as limited boundaries as possible. It is also clear,
that one of the most effectual contrivances for giving en aris-
tocratical tinge to its mode of treating subjects is by sub-
jecting it to a heavy rate of taxation, that its price may ad-
mit but of one class of private subscribers—the wealthy,
whose opinions (except in times of extremity like the pre-
sent,) are rarely in unison with those of the mass of the
people—leaving to this numerous body but the secondary
indulgence of becoming purchasers of a mere sight of that
which the rich only can buy, while, as a right, it should be
as accessible as possible to all. The mischiefs to which the
high duties on newspapers lead are monstrous, and should be
remedied as far as possible.
It calls for more serious deliberation than the subject has
yet received, whether—setting aside all objections on the
score of principle—a tax upon newspapers is to be borne,
when the evils to which it gives birth, are brought into the
account. What is it that carries the middle classes to the,
tavern, and the labouring ones to the " beer-shops r—the
newspaper ! The mind of man thirsts for intelligence; sad
it will be gratified, by all orders of society, let the obstruc
dons in the way of it be what they may. Knowledge has
become so universal throughout the country, that the work-
ing classes are as eager for it (perhaps more so), as the
drones who read but to kill time. A newspaper, therefore,
is indispensable to all—and all will see it. It gratifies a
natural and laudable curiosity for intelligence—furnishes a
rational and awreeable recreation —supplies materials for
social converse ; and diverts the mind from the pressure
of, probably, more painful thoughts.
Is this, then, a ft subject for taxation—bearing, as it
must do, most heavily on those who can ill afford that
which, as the world is constituted, is almost a necessary of
life ? But it may be said, that the thirst which leads men to
the tavern and the ale-house is for that which is more in
toxicating than politics. This we greatly doubt ; but if it
be so, thanks to the general diffusion of education, this is
'the age in which reason has taken up her empire, and rea-
son will prevail in this, as in other things ;—present but the
occasion, or rather, throw not, as it were purposely, at all
events inconsiderately, too great allurement in her way.
Men in the middle classes will see the paper—it is proper,
and necessary that they should ; why should they be driven
'to the coffee-house or tavern for it—or have to wait for a
weekly abridgment, that it m ty constitute the occupation
6f their Sunday? The artizan is, perhaps, a still more in-1
veterate politician than his master, for he has not his,
master's cares, while he is not unlikely to have more mew
and more general intelligence. Why again is he to be,
driven to the ale-house, or perhaps " new beer shop," Ow]
knowledge and recreation?
There are two points of view in which the subject nadir'
consideration is to be taken—by the government of the

As a mere question of revenue, we think the revenue
would be improved by reducing the stamp, from whit it ac-
tually is, 34 to 14. The demand would, upon a reduction
in price of two-pence, immerse the'consumption; and there
would be, beyond that, an increased consumption of paper,
carrying with it a hearra:::: ; which latter would, indeed,
be left upon the still proportion of papers printed,
were the trade thrown open, by the total repeal of the tax.
Finally, we see no reason why, with the duty off, penny
publications might not furnish a sketch of the news. The
larger papers do not yield the proprietors more than about
2d. when the duty and allowance to the newsmen are
taken off. What an astonishing production in such a mu'
of matter for so trifling a sum. We trust ministers will re-
consider this subject altogether, and that nut auperficially.

NAVAL L

• FALMOUTH, Aran. 25.
QUAITZIII TO Six, r.x.—Wind S.W.—Arrived hie Majesty's Pic-
ket Tynan, Lieut. Dwyer, from Mexico, &e. toiled from Tampico on
the 19th February, Vera Crus on the 21st Feb. and the Havannah on
the 15th March. She has brought home 350,000 dollars on merchants'
account ; 12th April, in lat. 49 6, long. 38 80 spoke the II ism&
schooner from Liverpool, for Newfoundland—all well. Geo. D. Vietote
Gurrero, the leader and aid of the rebels in Mexico, was tried on the
10th Feb. by a military court-martial at Oajaca, and sentenced to be
shot, which was carried into effect on the 14th.
Aran. 98.—Wind NN. W.—Arrived the ?rinse* Elisabeth Packet
11418.
16thCarthgena, Ec. railed from that
land
on the 4th March, Jamaica
16•180 March, and Crooked Island on the 22d; Dec. 20, miff he
emit std of Cabs spoke the Youghall, hem Belfast, tar lobille ; Dec.
21, saw a wreck on the south side of Castle Inland, which appeared to
be a vessel of about 350 tons, totally disniasted—neme and particulars
were unknown at Crooked Island. The Elladmth brought, home 70,000
dollars oo merchants' account. Also arrived the Nymph, Long, from
sailed the 2nd March for Exeter, the Urania, Tallam, from
sailed Bth March, for St. Petenborgh, the Paget, Wing,
fb.7liWyrna ; sailed 22d March, for Liverpool, the Hem, Tainmond,
rum Gallipoly ; sailed Bth March, for Liverpool, and his Majesty's
ItetSwallow, Lieut. Baldock, from the Leeward Islands; sst
Barbadoes March 4, Tortola, 10th, and St. Thomas's 900, with
Isiah r April 23, in lat. 46 16, long. 7 30, spoke the seboeser Ids, from
Vigeera for London, with loss of bulwark..
Passed the Port, after receiving despatches, the Duke of Kant, Fiett,
from London for Valparaiso. •
Sailed the Thalia, /hennas& for Yarmouth.
The Deers brought by the steamier packet, which arrived here yes-
terday from Lisbon, was to the effect of there not hallos bees a seek-
factory answer returned by the Portageese Government to the French
Consul, as required within a stipulated period, wbielt bad expired : the
consequence of which has been produalm of an seder from the C 0...
sal, requesting all French subjects to enthsek wit out debly, on board
the French ship* of war then in the Taps. A latter received here from
Lisbon, states, that the Britain* 120, was daily expected there from
the Biediterraman.


Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the East In-
dia House, when the following Commanders tsok leave of
the Court previous to departing for their respective destina-
tions, tit. Captain John Hillman, Scaleby Castle ; Capt.
Patrick Burt,Winchilsea ; .Capt. James tellaway, Bombay:
Capt. Henry Harris, Lowther Castle, for China direct; and
Capt. George Probyn, for Madras and Bengal.
Yesterday morning a proclamation ~issued by order of
Government, fixing the rates of freightage to .be charged
by Commanders of ships of war on bullion,,jewels, &c. The
rates to be charged after the Ist of September DIM are as
fellow :—For the freight of Crown treasures, from the port
of lading, to any distance not exceeding 600 leagues, id
percent. exceeding 600 and not exceeding 2,000 leagues,
Id. per cent. exceeding 2,000 leagues id. per cent. For•
gold and silver belonging to other parties the freights are to
be as follows :—On gold and jewels, from the port of lading,
to any distance not exceeding 600 leagues, id. per cent.
exceeding 600 and not exceeding 2,000 leagues, lid. per
cent. and exceeding 2,030 leagues, lid. per cent. On silver
the freights are fixed thus : —Not exceeding 800 reagitea
Id. per cent. exceeding 600 and not exceeding 2,004
leagues, lid. per cent. exceeding 2,000 leagues, 2d. pwr
cent. Commanders and masters of ships of war sot to be
put to :any chart charges, and the liability from loss to cow
the amount the ship arrives in port.