Star.
London, England, 1821-03-15 00:00:00

was well known that cases had existed in which Con-
stables and ethers had given vagrants a trifle to com-
mit an aet of vagrancy, that they might afterwards
take them into en and obtain the reward. The
vagrant also madewaofttable trade of it : for, sup-
, posing a vagrant to birpasced from London to York.
he would, in a week, iditain for his support about
Cl. 4s. whilst an hot W' an industrious labourer.
struggling to maintain hlinsielf and family, could
not obtain more than .194.--( freer, haer).—After
enumerating some other evils, conneCted with the
present systern, the Hon. Member concluded, by
moving for a Committee to inquire into the present
state of the Vagrant Laws.
Mr. HARBORD gave the motion his entire con-
currency, and stated, that during a year the regular
Parish Officers of St. George, Hanover-square, 18 in
number, took up but 23 vagrants, whilst six Officers
of the Mendicity Society, in the same space of time,
apprehended no less than 1150—(Hear, hear).
The motion was further supported by Mr.
WM', Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. WROTTICIILEY Mr.
WILLIAMS, and Mr.CALCRAFT, and then agreed to.
inesvAtros comas.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in
explanation of the gallant General's (Sir Robert Wil-
son) question, on a former evening, said, that
when the gallant General had asked him the ques-
tion, he had had but a very imperfect recoil-
!mien of a conversation which had taken place
two years before, as he thought, respecting the lega-
lity of roasting grain. He had since made inquiry
in the Treasury Office on the subject, and he had
found that the gallant General's recollection was in
substance correct---(Hear, hear).--Having ascer-
tained this, he took the earliest opportunity of men,
tioning it to the gallant General.
Sir ROBERT WILSON said, he ought not to sit
in that House if he had not felt hurt at hearing it
imputed to him that he had been guilty of any abuse
of confidential information, especially when the .
charge came frcast a Member of such distinguished
respectability as the Right Honourable Gentlemar.
At the same time, be had felt, sure that the Right
Honourable Gentleman would have been the first to
prevent any injustice that might arise from state-.
ments made by him. But he now could assure the
Right Honourable Gentleman, that he (Sir Robert
Wilson) was very sensible of the prompt and hand-
some manner in which he bad corrected his former.
observations.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
that the gallant General certainly did bins but justice
when he supposed that he never could be capable of
countenancing any injustice arising from words that
might have dropped from hint.
AusTatAll LOAN.
Mr. ROBERT SMITH rose, pursuant to notice.
to submit to the House his motion relative to the
claims of this country upon the Government of Aus-
tria. The question was now one of very great im-
portance, considering the embarrassed state of our
finances. It appeared that, in the year 1796, applia,
cation was made for a sum of Money, to be repaid
with interest, which should enable Austria to prose-
cute the war against France; and an Address to the
King being agreed to, a sum of £4,800,000 was
voted as a loan to his Imperial Majesty. The Err.•
peror, on his part, pledged himself to give a positit e
security for the repayment from the revenues of his
hereditary dominions, promising £409 for every £3OO
that was given in advance. It appeared, however,
that since the year 1797, not a shilling of the princi-
pal or interest had been paid, nor had any con3rnu-
nication been made to Parliament on the subject.
(Hear, hear). The dividends due on the loan were,
therefore, defrayed by the people of this country,
which was a peculiar hardship. From the period its
question to the present, the sumo including the in-
terest upon it, had accumulated to £17,600,000;
whereas, by a calculation of an Honourable Friend
of his, it amounted, in 1817, to nineteen millions ;
yet he (Mr. Smith) would now take it at £17,600,000,
and, according to this calculation, it would appear
that there was a loss of interest to the country to the
amount of nne million. The Honourable Member
then referred to a statement made by Mr. Pitt, to
shear that Austria, in the face of Europe, had solemn] y
pledged herself to the repayment, and that nothint
could be more injurious to a Sovereign who had al-
ways occasion for loans, than any imputation of bad
faith on his part. According to Mr. Pitt, the viola-
tion of the pledge made by Austria to England would
give a blow to the former country from which she
could never recover. It had been said by Mr. Pitt,
that the conditions of the loan were very disadvan-
tageous to Austria; but the reply of Mr. Fox was,
that it could not be creditable to our national charac-
ter to lend money upon disadva%ageous conditions;
yet Mr. Fox knew that the money would never be
repaid, and he quoted the passage from the Play
where Mrs. Amulet says, 4, I never made two wdrds
about the price; all I disputed about was the day of
payment"—(A laugh). At a time like the present,
of general distress, when tenants thought they welts
doing a favour to their landlords by consenting to
cultivate the soil, when rents were paid nut of the
capital of the farmer, and when every article of pita•
duce was sold at a price which could never repay
the grower, the House ousdrt tfi consider whether a
claim should not be urged, tlievnlidity of which was
indisputable, and the exte,:t of vl-ich was a matter
of great consideration ?—( I leer, hear.) No Power
on the Continent had obtained a larger secession of
territory by the late war than Austria, and her do-
minions gave her immense re.ouices: Nor was there
any Power left in so great a state of slistri ss by the
svar as Great Britain. The Ail, ti ian Eupire bad
now attached to it the fertile plains of Venetian Lott:-
hardy, Dalmatia, Istri. , Hungary, and it stretched
into Poland. It was also to be observed, th.v. the
Emperor of Austria had the greatest personal tem.
sure of any Monarch of Europe. He had obtained
from France a sum of six millions. When we looked -
at the ss .ton of plunder and esaction practised by