Star.
London, England, 1811-09-16 00:00:00

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_
Malt FINdfNCE COMMTITIE. _
-- • \' On Saturday night, about twelve O'clock, a fire
From the Report of this Committee, laid before broke out in the printing offices belonging to Mr.
Pat liamen., we give the following statement of the I T. Smeeton, nephew and sucoessorto the late Mr..l.
annual Revenue of Ireland for the last four years : Smeeton, in St. Mar tin's.litit, who a few months since
Iltlatt ClialtallCT. .Net Peoduce into perish-d, together with his wife, in the conflag:ation
Gross Produce. tke Ex.:llequer. which happened at his house. The fire occurred at
150$ • £5,531,649 • X 4,117,1190
1,110) 5,549,191 . 4,571,406 the corner of Bt. Martin's Church-Yard, to which
1810 1. 5,41,i,715 . 4,280.603 place Mr. Smeeton had lately removed, and which he
Ist 1 3,130 610 - 3,614,13,5 . had fitted up at a greattexpence. The whole of the
On the subject of the defalcation of produce, which, building, and part of the extensive stock in trade, were
it appears, has lately taken place, the Committee consumed in a short time. Mr. and Mrs. Smeeton
observe, escaped, as did the rest of the inmates, with some dir-
.. But it is obvious, that in the last two years, and 6cuhy. The adjoining house, belonging to Mr. G.
especially in the last, the Irish Revenue has not only Blake, butcher, was much damaged, and die inhabi-
not increased in proportion, to tl:e augmented charge . tants made their escape with the greatest precipita-
of the public debt, but has fallen considerably short tion. Mrs. Blake had only been brought to bed four'
of its former amount ; and it will appear that this de- days. ,She and her infant were brought down wrap-
ficiency has occurred in the departments of Customs ped up in blankets. The flames spread to the oppo-
and Excise. • - site side of the way, and very much alarmed the in-
a, With a view of furnishing the House with the ' habitants, their anuses being fronted with wood ;
means of forming a judgmertt of the causes from but the wind changing, they escaped the conflagra-
which it has arisen, your Comittee conceive it may tion. During the afternoon of yesterday, one of the
st
• be useful to ate separately the produce 'of a few of walls fell with a tremendous crash ; and the fiont of
the most considerable articles in each of those depart- Mr Blake's house ants in so threatening a state, that
ments of revenue for the, tour last years. The articles it was obliged to be propped up. A party of Foot ,
they have selected Mkt; in the Customs, spirits, wine, Guerds were stationed to prevent people passing!
sugar, tea, tobacco, and wine; and, in the Excise, along St. Martin's-lane. Divine service did not take
malt, spirits, and tobacco; viz. place at St. Martin's Church, in the afternoon. I
quSTOMS.--Gtoss Produce. Another fire broke out at half-past two o'clock '
Year Year Year Year
•yesterday morning, at Mr. Hornby's iron-shop, in 1
. ending ending ending ending
1608. 1802. 1810. .1811. Tottenham-court-road ;it began in the lower part of
Spirits .C 135,754 epos,ens 713,390 5e5,466 the house, it was with great difficulty some of the in-
-1
Sugar - 516,1427 642,419 803,909 450,715 mates escaped ; but unfitrtunately a lad, 14 years old,11
1
Tea 115,115 563,698 500,946 472,009 and an apprentice to Mr. Hortiby, perished in the
Tobacco 131,655 361,048 173,593 169,487
Wine 454,442 356,960 363,274 309,0454 flames, notwithstanding the exertions of his master,
-- .--.---- ------ who made several attempts to save him: The ad-
E 1,1130,615 1,991,481 2,331,v-41 1.606;152 joining house, belonging to Mr. Yule, hair-dresser,
• Note.—Ezalusive of the sun. of £35,956, charged on aocouat shared the same fate. The adjoining stables of Mr.
of she new Duty on the Stock in hand.
KM X also caught fire, and twenty-four of his horses,
' EXCISE.—Gross Produce,
of loose, and ran off in various directions. Some
Malt 527,470 358493 408,404 348,800 g
Spirits 1,236:444 903,570 210,159 mole • were fond at Hatnpstead--ethers at Kentish-Town.
Tobacco 210,041 376,51111 113,281 311,787

..

FIRES.

EXECUTION OF ARTHUR IMILEr.

.C 1,773,760 1038,761 351,851 1,345,403
Total of
CUM MA&
Excise on 1,610,603 3,330,452 3,316,09! 2,952,15 S
the above
articles.
" Your Committee have not had sufficient means
of forming a judgment on the causes of this deficiency;
hut they think the following considerations, resulting
out of the accomits above stated, or of the evidence
taken before them, deserving of the attention of the
Hove.
" 'First, That the commercial embarrassments
which, affected Ireland, in common with Great Bri-
durin.g a considerable part of the last year, may
have occasioned e diminished importation of the lead-
ing articles ; as the Irish merchants may have been
apprehensive of increas,ng their difficulties by making
fresh purchases while the consumption conld be sup-
. plied from the stock already on hand. It is also
• 'stated, that the prevalence of westerly winds during
the last quarter of 1810, materially impeded the ar-
rival of importations which have taken place since
'the commencement of the present year. This may
account for the deficiency'of the Customs in the year
• ending the 6th of January, 1811, eornpaied with the
preceding years ; for it is to be observed, that their
produce in the year ending the 6th of January, 1810,
was•swelled by an unusual importation of runt during
the prohibition of the corn distillery, which occasion-
ed an-increase of about £450,000 above the produce
of the.same article on an average ot,the two preced
Mg years. Deducting that increase, the gross pro-
duce of the customs in the year ending the sth of
January, 1810, will not be found to differ materially
from that of the preceding years.
" A *second Circumstance particularly 'deserving I
notice, is, thelailure of the excise on spirits. It does
not appear that the great 'Auction of duty which
loth place in 1810, has been attended with the ex-
pected effect of increasing the quantity brought into
charge—pr clueing a more exact collection of the tax.
" Your Committee desire not to be understood, in
pointing out the effect of this measure on the revenue,
as intimating any opinion -in its propriety. They are
sensible of the great difficolty of the subject, as well as
of its importance not only to the revenue, but to the
prosperity of Ireland in various other respects; and
they have not had either the leisure or the information.
necessary for entering into an investigation of it.
" The same reason makes them equally desirous
of avoiding to offer any opinion on another subject,
which they are also bound tai nolce, as having con-
tributed to the deficiency of the net revenue, viz,. the
increase in the chargevof collection and management,
Which in the Customs and Excise depnrunents,
amounted in lie year ending—
January 5, 1801, to - ir424,CCO
IVI, 511,411
1810, 648,181
IEII, - 721,588
a This increase has been. deemed necessary on ac-
-count of the abolition of fees in the Customs depart-
trent, and the very low allowances of the inferior
Ocers oftxcise, who are supposed in many instances
to have been driven by their necessities to corrupt
practices. Your Committee have not thought it ne-
cessary to'enter at present into an examination of the
propriety of measures which have already received
the sanction of Parliament, and they have no means
of judging of the propriety of any of the angmenta- I
Lions which have' lately taken place ; they must, how. I
ever, observe, that in any department in which cor-
rupt practices have become in any degree habitual, a
most vigil!tnt superintendance will he necessary to
prevent their recurrence, although the excuse of ne-
, cessity may be taken away by the most liberal
'allowances."
•
The pens of the Minister sal and Opposition Writers,
are now employed pa well against each other re.,
specting the' appointment of Colonel MAC MAHON to
succeed the late General Fox, as Paymaster of Wi-
. dims' Pensions, the abolishing cf which a Committee
of the House of Commons had recommended. The
Ministry, however, it seems, did not intend to take
the hint, but nominated one of their own friends to
the office : thus all idea of the place being abolished'
baying been given `up, 'at least for the present, thel
ritiNCll ILIGINT naturally preferred Colonel MAC
MAucix, who
performed the important duties of Se-
cretary to his Royal Highness without the kasO
etuouseessioo from the public puns

=Pm. ••••••••11..
On Wednesday morning, Arthur Bailey was exe-
cuted near Ilchester, pursuant to his sentence, for
stealing a letter from the Bath Post Office, contain-
ing the property of Messrs. Slack, Linen-drapers, atid
for forging an endorsement to cue of the said bills.;
He was taken out of prison a little after eight o'clock
in the morning, and placed in a cart; attended byl
Mr. Melliar, the under Sheriff, and the Chaplain of
the prison in a chaise. He slanged the greatest firm-
ness on the way to the fatal tree ; and when under
the gallows, he joined fervently in prayer, and ad-
dressed the spectators audibly :—" I hope you will
take warning ;"--and holding a prayer book in his
hand,---" I hope and beg you to look often into this
book, and you will not come to shame. Be sure to
be honest, and not covet rnoney,---cursed money !
and particularly money that is not your own." He
was then depr vet. of his mortal state of existence,
dying without a struggle. Shortly after his convic-
tion, Mr. Bridle, the keeper of the gaol, gave him a
list of several letters reported to have been lost from
the Bath Post office, and which it is supposed he must
have had some knowledge of. On this paper he
wrote—" I have clearly examined this list, and there
is only one I malty knowof; must beg to be excused
from saying which.—A. B."—On another part of it,
he adds, "It has been said I have had concerns
with others in the Post Office, now I do positively de-
clare to Gov, I have had concerns with no one." A B.
Y‘aiky had some hopes of a reprieve till Monday,
when his Solicitor informed him that all applications
to the Secretary of State, the Postmaster General,
and to the Judge who tried him, were in vain. As
the pi ;seiner ta.tore could only be brought to acknow,
ledge the crime for which he had been convicted, the
under S!ieriff,'in ronsequenceof several letters he had
received to that e ffect, thought he might be brought
to make a further confession. Consequently, on
Tuesday ninrning, after he had taken an affectionate
and distressing leave of his wife and six children, had
received the Sacrament, and been left to himself and
own reflections for some hours, Mr. Melliar, with
much humanity, again urged him on the matter, men-
ti, ning particular letters which had been lost, and to
which Bailey firmly replied.—" I must request, Sir,
you will not press me f urther on this subject ; I have!
made a solemn engagement with ALMIGIITY Gon,
that I will not disclose more than I have done, which
I think would be a heirs 'us and additional sin to
break ; it I had not made this engagement. I would
readi!y, Sir, answer all your questions, and remove
all difficulties." A!tet wards, he observed,—" lam
about to suffer for what has been truly proved against
me ; all the rest must die with me." Bailey was a
native of AsLuncen, in Devonshire, was 37 years old,
and came ea.aly in life to Bath, where he lived in
some respectable fatrelies from whom he was strongly
recommended to Mr. Price, Postmaster of this City.
In this employ he conducted himself, for seven years,
with great assiduity, and to the perfect satisfaction of
his employer. About nine years since he married,
and took a public house near 'the bottom of St.
James's-street, and afterwards removed to the Fox Inn,
at Milford, on the Frome and Warminster road, which ,
premises he purchased. Mr. Price always esteemed him
•as a faithful old servant, and as such he had the li-
berty to come to his house, and take his meals with
the other clerks and servants under the idea of ren-
dering assistance during the hours of considerable
bristle: in the height of the Bath season, he was some-
times admitted into the Office: here the temptation of
purloining valuable letters presented itself, and he was
led to commit thecrime for which he hasjustly suffered.
That he had been frequently guilty of similar thefts,
there-is every reason to suppose, his motive for not
disclosing them in his last moments can scarcely be
conjectured; as it is barely probable that in commit-
ting such an offence, he could have had the aid of
an accomplice. The remains of this unfortunate
culprit were brought to this city last night, and in.
terred, about 12 o'clock, in a walledtrave, which he
had made some time since in St. James's vault.—
, Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, a common
of people, amounting, it is supposed, to nearly 1000,
attended to witness the interment of this victim to the,
offended laws of his country.—Zok Ewald, Stitt. 14.
Saturday another Man wasulten iete,eestody, oa
suspicion of being soncesued is% the tobbay .1 the
Queen's PAWL



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