Star.
London, England, 1821-02-20 00:00:00

*eond reading today; but as some misconception had gone abroad
respecting this Bil 4, he should now, to give time for inquiry, '
move the second reading for this day week.
Mr. HUSK I§SON could not agree to this motion. He be-
lieved it was on% entirely new in principle, to propose to post-
pone a private bill, only because it was said to be misunder-
stood. • This Bill was said to be a local Bill; but it was no such
thing. It was a question of the greatest magnitude ; one affect-
ing, by a side-wind, the whole kingdom. The Poor; Rates were
already considered as a great evil; and the object of this Bill was
to extend the evil. It was intended by it to make the Shipping
of the port of Hull liable to be rated to the Poor, and it was so
drawn up, that a ship would not be liable to be ratedlOr her pro-
fits, but as a ship; therefore, if she should lie a whole year its port.
unemployed, and a hurthen to her owners, she would still he
liable to pay the Rates. He had no local connection with Hull,
but he could not consent that the Shipping of that port should
be made liable to a Tax which the Shipping of the rest of the
kingdom did not pay, and thus by a side-wind endeavour to esta-
blish a principle unknown to the country. If it was right at all
to tax the Shipping, let it be a general measure, and let it fairly
undergo the consideration of the House. With this view, he
moved, that the Bill be read a second time this day six months.
Mr. SY KF.S was about to defend the Bill, when
Mr. BARING rose to order. If the debate was to be put
off, the Hon. Gentleman slsculd not now make a speech.
Mr. CA LCR AFT thought the Honourable Member 'had a
right to be allowed to answer the statement wbicL bad been
made against the Bill.
Mr. SYKES resumed.—He contended that this was to be
strictly a local measure, and that shipping, as well as all other
personal property, should be liable to the Poore Rates. •All
other personal property in Hull was liable ; and another thing
was, that a very large port& of the poor were brought upon the
town by the shipping. A fen, years ago, when £16,000 was
raised in hull for the poor, £7eoo of it was applied to the sea-
faring paupers. This was not a new proposition, as had been
stated by the Right lion. Member, since the shipping of Sun-
derland and Yarmouth were already liable to chi: tax.
Mr. F. I.IM I S was decidedly against this Bill, which went
to extend that crling evil, the Poors' Rare System. As long as
he could he would raise his voice to protest against any such
proposition, and say, tax nothing to the poor which is noealready
liable. The lion. Gentleman said this was a local measure : that
was one of his objections to it. This was to be adopted as re-
garded Hull only, but how long would it be so confined in its
operation? Adopt it for Hull, and soon it would extend to other
se; ports, till it would become general, and this evil would be
added to the already ruinous system of Poore Rate Taxation.
Mr. HUSK ISSON said,' he would be most unwilling to
take the Honourable Mover of this Bill by surprise, as he un-
derstood several Gentlemen who intended to support this Bill
bad gone away, under an impression that the second reading
would not come on to-day. Ile would not, therefore, press his
motion, but, with the leave of the House, withdraw it.
General GASCOYNE hoped the Honourable Member who
had brought forward this Bill would now withdraw it ' • or, if
he did not, that he would not fix the second reading fur any
particular day.
The SPEAKER said, fixing it as an Order of the Day for
any particular day, did not make it imperative that the Bill
should be read on that day; it only fixed the day for the notice

of the House.
After a few words from Mr. STIES and General GASCOYST,
the second reading was fixed for Tuesday sennight.
Mr. W A RRE obtained leave to bring in a Bill to amend the
General Inclosure Act.

Sir JOHN NEWPORT, in the absence of his Honourable
Friend, the Member for the University of Dublin, gave notice,
that he woad uo Wednesday se'nnlght bring under the considera-
tion of the } louse the state of the Roman Catholics of Ireland.

Lord NUGENT gave nodes., he would on the same day pre-
sent a Petition from the Catholics of Great Britain.

Mr. BENNETT then rose to move for the production of
the notes taken by the Short-hand Writer of the House before
the Police Committee, on the subject of the conduct of certain
Magistrates in licensing public-houses, as connected with the
case of an individual named Meek, who bad since presented a
Petition to the House; and that the Short-band Writer be per-
mitted to attend the Court of King's Bench, on the trial of a
prc cution "The King v. Sir N. Conant and Others," at.the
instance of? Meek, and there to produce his notes, and give
evidence.

..,.
Mr.. BATHURST that this was a cue deeply involving the
privileges of the House. lie submitted it would be proper that
the whole question should be referred to a Committee, for them
to report to the house whether it was proper that the proposi-
tion of the Hon. Member shodd be adopted.
Mr. MABERLRY was decidedly of opinion that the House
should immediately put a negative on the motion, as the wit-
nesses who appeared before Committees of the House were
entitled to the fullest protection.
Mr. C. W. WYNN was of opinion the House could not de-
cide, without previous enquiry by a Committee, to see how far
the evidzoce the Short-hand Writer was to give would affect
the witnesses before the original Committee.
Mr. DPW NET(' then expressed a wish to withdraw his mo-
tion ; which was agreed to.
Mr. BEN N ET'f then moved for a Return of the number of
Convictions for Forgeries its the last three years, and the num-
ber executed for that offence in that period.—Ordered.
Also, for the number of Persons convicted in the same period
for uttering forged Bank of England Notes; the number who
have pleaded guilty to the minor offence : also, a Return of the
number of Persons transported to Botany Bay, since 1816 ; the
periods of their sentence, whether fox seven, fourteen, or twenty-
one years, or fur life.—Ordered.
Also, for Copies of Grants of Land to Convicts in New South
Wales, with the Nanits of the Grantees, &c.—Ordered-
Sir J. NEWPORT then moved a Resoletion that, during
Peace, if the House should meet before Christmas, then the
Army, Navy, and Ordnance Estimates, should be presented ber
fore the 15th of January following ; or, if the House should not
be sitting on that day there, that they should be laid before
Parliament ten days after the appointment of the Committee of
Supply.
Atter a few words front the CHANCILLOS of the EXCUZQUZZ,
the motion was agreed to.
Mr. CIIETWYND then moved for a Return of the Fines
imposed by ,the Court of King's Bench, from Hilary Term,
tin ts, to Hilary Tenn, 1821 ; and the appropriation of the same.
He understood these Fines had been given by the Crown to the
Hies Bailiff of Westminster. He did not know whether it were
so or not; but he thought the House should enquire into the
subject.
Mr. Serjeant ONSLOW did nut rise to oppose the motion
but only to correct a mistake of his Honourable Friend. Th;
fines did go to the High Bailiff, but not in consequence of a
grant from the Crown; but in consequence of his having pur-
chased the situation of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster,
for a valuable consideration, and, in more instances than one,
having incurred heavy expenses at elections.
After a few words from the CstaiscuLoa of the EICIIIQVIM
and Sir J. Newroae,

Air. CHET WYI4 D repeated his determination of investigat-
ing this subject. The fines frequently amounted ma large sum,
and aught to go in aid of the Civil List. Ile knew not whether
they were in the hands of the High Bailiff, or the Dean and
Chapter ; but he wanted to know bow they got out of the hands
of the Crown.—The motion was then agreed to.
Mr. C. GRANT brought up the Report of she Committee
on the Irish Judges' Salaries. Hills were ordered in pursuance
of the Resolutions.

The House went into a Committee on the Flax and Cotton Acts.
Mr. LUSH' NGTON moved a Resolution for continuing
these Acts.

Mr. HUME wished to know if -there was any intention to
bring forward this year any Budget for India?
Mr. BA TIII; BST said, he was at present too young and in-
experienced in office to give the Hon. Gentleman an immediate
anover--The Resolution was then ?greed to.
The House went into a Committee on the Clerk of Assize in
-Irelands' BIU. _ _ _

Mr. C. GRANT moved a grunt of £2700 a-year, from the
Consolidated Fund, in lieu of all 'fees. The Resolution was
agreed tor—Report to-rnorroW.
Mr. IIUAIE gave notice that he would, on the 20th of March,
move for leave to bring in a Bill to disqualify the °filters in the
Ordnance Department from voting for Members of Parliament.
Mr. LUSH I NGTON brought in the Atwual Indertinity Bill.
Read a first, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow.
ORDNANCE ACCOUNTS.

ifs. HUMS moved, that there he laid before the House Gera
tan Returns, upon which he would at present make no other re-
mark, than that they would have the effect of correcting some
Tur:repnesent.."l tors r. bids, he thought, had crept it.to the speech
of Its Unnamable (acutlentan opposite (Mr. 11 Ard) two or three

nights ago. He then moved fors Return of the Ordnance Fstab-
lishments at the Tosser and Pall.mall; the number of Officers
and Clerks employed, dbtings,shing in separate columns the se-
veral allowances or gratuities granted to each; whether they it-
ceived any allowances for h..use rent, Etc.—l'he motion em-
braced a great variety of other Returns of a similar nature, rela-
tive to the Ordnance F.stablishment or Depots, Inspectors of
Artillery, and Storekeepers, at Woolwich, Windsor, Hampton.
court, St. James's, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Chatham,
Dover, the Isle of Wight, Sec. It included also the following
foreign stations viz. Heligoland, Gibraltar, the lonian Islands,
&c. and also the Garrisons and Batteries at home and abroad.—
The lion. Gentleman moved also for similar Returns respecting
the Engineer Corps, the Corps of Sappers and Miners, the Esta-
blishment for the Instruction of Sappers and Miners, the Royal
Artillery Drivers, the Royal Military College at Woolwich
the number of Officers and Cadets employed there, the Float-
ing Vessels used as Magazines the number of Men and Officers
in the Artillery service, Ste.
The whole of these Accounts referred to the year 1891, ex-
cepting that for the Floating Magazines, wbish related to 1020.
After a few wt.rds froth Mr. WA RD, who expressed his wil-
lingness that the Returns should be furnished, they-were ordered.
The House then adjourned.

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

(TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1821.
THE FUNDS.

The communication last nigherespecting the. Ne-
apolitan business, was expected to have affected the'
Funds this morning; buy° the disappointment of the
speculators, no alteration took place. Consols began at
723/4.3/8, the price at which they closed yesterday.
Notwithstanding this temporary firmness, the monied
men are of opinion that a depression must take place
before settling day (to-morrow 'week), as the present
is evidently a heavy Bull Acconht: No fluctua-
tion has taken place for the last four or five days,
which has created some surprise in the Market,'
it being well known that the Powers for the sale of
Stock from the country have been numerous beyond
precedent. Bank Stock has fallen four per cent.
within a few days, as it is now very generally known
that a reduction of interest will take place in that
Stock. Prices at one o'clock this day :
Bank Stk 225% 2261/4 —3 per Ct. Hecht. 72%8 731/4
3 per Ct. Cons. 721 A 3/8-3i per Cent. 821,6 :4A

4 per Cent. 90 7,3 911/4-5 per Cent. Navy 1053 A 106
Long Annuities 18 13-.l6—lndia Stock 2261/4 1/4

India Bonds 41s. 425. pr.—Excheq. Bills 4s. ss. 3s. pr.
Cons. for Acct. 721/4 5/s.

~_

Earl GREY'S Motion for the production of such
Papers as should give further information respecting
the Communications between the Kum's Ministers
and the Allied Sovereigns, on the affairs of Naples,
brought on an animated discussion last night in the
House of Peers. His Lordship urged with great force
the obligation, political and moral, upon the British
Government to remonstrate in the very beginning
against the monstrous doctrines and intolerable pre-
tensions of the Allied Sovereigns—condemned the
treacherous countenance given to these pretensions

by the refusal to acknoivledgethe Neapolitan Envoy

gately in this country, and by the use of a British ship
to convey the KING of NAPLES on his way to Lay-
bach. He next expressed his approbation of the
Neapolitan Revolution on general principles—re-
marked upon the absence of all domestic violence, or
foreign aggression, and maintained that, admitting
the instrumentality of the soldiery, and conceding
the revolutionary party to be small, still the Neapo-
litan Revolution stood upon the same grqund as our
Revolution of 1688, which was concerted by a party,
and executed by the soldiers of JAMES H.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL maintained, that if the
House approved the neutral policy adopted by Minis-
ters, the production of papers would have no object ;
for, that no step could be taken upon them without
a departure from neutrality. He then pursued, at
some length, the same line of observation as the
diplomatic note signed by Lord CASTLEREAGH,
which was recently laid upon the table of the Lords,
maintaining that a case of justifiable interference
may exist, but declining the expression of any opi-
nion upon that of Naples. The Noble Lord re-
marked, that there was a difference between the
Carbonari and the English revolutionary party of
1688, the latter being national, but the former
being spread over Italy, Germany, and Switzer-
land. He, however, did not mention this as con;
stituting a ground for the interference of Austria.—
The Noble Lord next noticed another difference be-
tween the English and Neapolitan revolutions, viz.
that the latter was preceded by no petition or remon-
strance for redress of grievances, such as took place
in the instance of the former. Lord LIVERPOOL, in
making this observat;on, certainly forgot for a mo-
ment his accustomed"candour. The Neapolitans had
no means, no channel of remonstrance. To require
it of them, therefore, is an impossible and absurd
condition. The English Nation, on the contrary,
could approach CHARLES I. or JAMES 11. through
Parliament, or by the subjects' direct right of peti-
tion. In Naples, to remonstrate would have been-to
rebel ; and this is a convincing illustration of the va-
lue of a Constitution to the governors as well as the
governed—shewing, that in absolute Governments,
reform of abuses, or improvement in the State, can
be obtained only by revolution ; whilst, in a free
State, they may be attained without in the least de-
I gree loosening or weakening the frame of Society or
Government.

Lord HOLLAND supported the motion, in a speech
full of animation, and bold, manly statements. Lord
ELLENIOROUGU opposed the production of the Papers,
and commended the line of • policy pursued by Mi.

nisters in this affair. Lord CALTWORPt supported the

motion.

Earl GRIT replied. But now his arguments ac-
quired a fresh interest, from his stating, that since the
debate had commenced, he was put in possession of
the intelligence, " that the die was cast; that the Aus-
trian troops were advancing; that a Proclamation for
dissolving the Parliament had been issued by Me Panics
VICAR; and that the King of NApLEs had published a
Proclamation, ordering his subjects to receive the Aus-
trians as friends!" _ _

This intelligence, for which no doubt our Readers
Were prepared by the accounts which we yesterday
communicated, produced a strong sensation in the
House. The Noble Lord earnestly asked Ministers,
whether, with the knowledge of this event in their
possession, thty were stilt prepared to justify their
non-interference ? To this appeal no reply was made.
Lord GREY concluded with observing, that he should
not divide the House, but at the same time should
not withdraw his motion. It was accordingly ne-
gatived withoot a division.
The facts alluded to by his Lordship are stated in
the Frankfort Journal of the 12th instant, with the
addition that, in the Proclamation of King FERDI-
NAND he promises to grant the Neapolitans a Consti-
tution on his !gum from Laybach.. The fact seems
also established, which we announced yesterday, that
an Austrian Army of Occupation is to take up its re-
sidence for some time in the Kingdom of Naples.
The conduct of FERDINAND is precisely what we an-
ticipated as possible when his projected visit to Lay-
bach was first proposed.

The town of Zante was completely destroyed by
an earthquake on the 29th December. Happily the
inhabitants, by a previous shock, had been alarmed,
and ran into the streets, so that the number of lives
lost is comparatively few.

• We have received Lisbon Papers to the gd instant,
which detail the preliminary proceedings of the Cortes:

SECOND SITTING OF THE EORTES-JANUARY 27.

M. SOARS FRUNO read a Project of a Decree to
justify the proceedings of the Nation on the 24th of
August and 15th of September, declaring,those pro-
ceedings to have been necessary, and the Coates a ne-
cessary consequenCe of them; that a Committee
should be named for this purpose, and those who had
undertaken this bold enterprise be declared to have
deserved well of their country.—The discussion was
deferred to a more convenient opportunity.
A plan of a Manifesto, or Proclamation, from the
Cortes to the Nation, was then read and approved,
and a Committee appointed to revise it.
The Assembly then proceeded to deliberate on the
election of an Executive Government: it was debated
whether there should be a Regent or Regency, and
it was decided that there should be a Regency, con-'
sisting of five Members, one of whom to be Presi-
dent. Some debate arose on the question whether
Members of the Cortes should be chosen for the Exe-
cutive Government; and it was determined that the
Members of the Government should be elected out
of the Assembly, and that the Deputies to the Cortes
should not he included in this or the other nomi-
dations, unless the Cortes declared the country to
be in danger.
The Election of the Members of the Government
was then decided by the absolute majority of votes ;
the number of Deputies present being 74. The five
Members are, the Conde de Sampayo, Francis Fran-
cisco de S. Luz, Jose da Silva Carbalho, the Marquis
de Castello Melhor, and-Joao da Cunha Souto Major.
In the Sitting of January 99, after some discus-
sions respecting the necessity of enforcing the at-
tendance of the Members, and of having a Substitute
for those who should be absent on good grounds, the
Assembly prqceeded to elect the five Secretaries;
their choice fell on the following Gentlemen :
For the Interior—Fernando Lutz de Sousa Barradas.
For the Finances—Francis Duarte Coetho.
For the War Department—Marshal Antonio Teix-
eira Itabello.

For Foreign Affairs—Anselmo Jose Braamcarnp.
For the Marine—Francisco M aximiniano de Sousa.

The Marquis de Castello Melhor was declared Pre-
sident of the Government. It was resolved that the
Regency shQuld take an oath to govern according to
the existing laws, to maintain them, and obedience
to the Cortes.

A Committee of Five was appointed to draw up the
bases of the Constitution.
JANUARY 30.—The Members of the Executive Go-
vernment took the oath, except the President, who
could not be present.

LISBON, FEBRUARY 2.
The Diario of this date contains the Decree of the
Cortes, appointing the Regency to govern in the
name of King John VI. by whose installation the
functions of the Provisional Junta of the Supreme
Government have ceased.

The KING returns to town on Thursday, and on
Friday. as already stated, his MAJESTY will bold a
Levee at Carltun-House.

It is said to be his MAJESTY'S intention, on his visit
to Ireland, to disembai k at Cork—to proceed thence
to Knocklofty, the seat of Lord DoNominmonE; On-
wards to Kilkenny Castle, and to the Metropolis.
An idea prevails that the first visit will be paid to the
Marquis of THOBIOND, at his magnificent seat on the
harbour of Cork.

Yesterday the Dnke and Duchess of CLARENCE
had a select party to dinner, among whom was the
Baron JEST, Saxon Minister.

Her MAJESTY gave her first Grand Dinner at
Brandenburgh House on Saturday. • Among the nu-
merous company present were,

The Duke of Bedford, Marquis if Tavlstocl, Far} Grey,
Lord Nugent, Lord Ossuliton, Hon. H. G. and Mrs. Bennett,
Mr. and Lady Louisa Larnbton, Hon. Mrs. Darner, Sir
Ronald Ferguson, W. A. Aladocks, PAS. Alderman Wood, Mr.
Brougham, Dr. Lushington, and Mr. Wilde.

Yesterday, the Duke of Svsskx, and a large party
of Nobility, dined with her MAJESTY
_ _

Down.
Yesterday Lord CLAN‘tILLIAJI arrived in LAMA.
ing-street, lion) Vienna.

THE ARMY.

ThySist Regiment of Foot is now on;
Port Patrick, where it is to be embarl,
The Officers of the l6th Lancers
Dejeuxe last week at Radipole Barrack,
Rank and Fashion of Weymouth.
The Officers of the 88th Regiment
Ball and Supper on Wednesday last, '
of rooms in the Royal Hotel, Chester,
of th at city and its neighbourhood.

Hit Majesty'
Harwich, has
Brightuo.

Fmatootru,
ass, from You 4
lin ; and Saraht
back the William