The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-01-31 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. . Mr. Alderman Buten' contended that the statement
—mme—. in the Report, of the inutility of the London Militia
CITY MILITIA. was completely unfounded. • The London regiments
A Court of Common Council was yesterday held : too were net more espensibe than other regiments of
for the purpose of taking into consideration the Re- Militia: I.low conitl,it be. said,,that,that part of the
port of the Committee, appointed to investigate the -*title which remained in jowl) was useles s
s, if it
mate of the two regiments of City Militia. prifeeted the Doct-yards, and supported the Magi-
The Report of the Committee, which went in sub- 'irafiy in cases of emergency ? ' And whose fault was
stance to recommend the disbanding of the present It that the London Militia was not more effective ?
regiments, and the substitution of a Local Militia of Not sorely that of the Government, but of the Court
equal numbers, to be assembled either *lice a-year of C,omtion.Ctiincil dietesetves, who, from, their jea-
fer /8 days, or twice a-yeat for 14 days, in their lousy of aey 9feingerneot prrtheir•privileges, claim-.
stead, having been read, .
I'd this limitation of their service. This complaint of
Mr. Alderman Wnen, after expressing his sue- ' inefficiency' cfam'e, therefore a very bad grace
prize at the absence of the four City Members, on from these who had themselves been the means of oc-
whose account expressly the subject for discussion .! -atsioning it. Ile maintained that a force which might
was postponed at the last Common Council, moved be thameans of.preserying.the,City from ruial. in an
that the Court do agree to the Report Which had . emergency like that of 1780, cOeld never bostated
been read. I tojr,useless. . .
The question having been put—, . Mr. FAtELL supported the motion.
r. De M puty Box said, he felt himself peculiarly . 'Mr. Guireerns saYd there were more triaMilitils by
'called upon to oppose 'the motion, as well from a Court-Martials in one Regiment of London a
sense of duty as from a feeling of interest. By the in one year, than in all the other Regiments of Mai-
term intereit, he did not mean any selfish interest, . tie throughout the kingdom; and when they were
but that interest Which it behoved every good man to called out on any occasion, their only object seemed
feel for the safely and security of his country. Many to be to plunder their neighbours.
stigmas bad been thrown out against the two regi- ; Mr. S. Dixon explained.
meats of Militia, which could not be supported by , Mr. BELL explained. ....
proof. They had not in face. fait play ; for their aeons- I Mr. Quix disapproved of throwing a slur i
fowleafew
a
en, although liberal in general invective, had not pro- , whole body, onaccount of the ct of
(breed a single instance in support Of their calumny. individuals. Be opposed the Amendment.
It had been said, that by the institution of those re- i Mr. Bina' explained.
gimeuts, the rights and privileges of the City 'had ' Sir W. Charts said the expence of the London
been invaded. This was an assertion, however, , Militia was only 4d. in the pound. Ile thought it.
. which the Act for their appointment flatly contra- ' was very unfair to stigmatize a body for the miscon-
dieted, as by that Act it was distinctly specified, I duct of a few.
that their existence was in no wise to interfere or I on a divisionthe numbers for the motion
for agredise a ith the Report was 50
alter in the slightest sense the charters and immunities I. For the Amenanent - - 84
of the City.
The two regiments were supported at a less ex- ! Majority in favour of' the Amendment 34
pence than any other regiments in the country.—
They were in fact a part of the military force of the I:ogy-men in 1
kingdom, which, at this awful period, could ill be foro a üblic-hot
spared. lied apply;
Mr. Witrxer observed, that the original iiistitu- ullady returned
tion of the Militiaßegiments bad been planned by a men came . to tl
Set of ignorant and stupid men, who, after the most . artizans, and
unwearied exertion, turd only been able to carry to beat the ha
their point by a netjority of a single vote. The ex., text to cut it
istence of such alorce in the "city he thought wholly ten, and with i
unnecessary, and therefore thought their disbanden-
r
meat an object of peculiar importance. .i
Sir R. Casa GLYN thought the Report befora the .vetliug, and 1
tha.t in the nit
,
Court extremely unwise, and not at all'caiculated to place . latelj
meet the general wishes of the inhabitants of the City.' ricinity of Co
In fact, be thought the existence of those regiments Regiment of
extremely essential to the peace and .trancitillity of- sent • when,
• the metropolis, as they Would be at all times ready 7.e of' the seco
to assist the civil power in the suppresiion of riot or nd the parties
unexpected commotion. A trial Militia could not ions held at
be raised withoht ballot, and wotild be extremely, 1 the Method'
pbnoxious to the inhabitants. each, which t
Mr. Alderman CHRISTOPIittn SNIT 111 strongly in- ae of them w
veighed against. the absurdity of the Report, and ongregation.
contended that it was wholly eieconsistent with the noes apace, s
interests of the City, to comply with its suggestions. eisions of th
Mr. Warrnasw felt disposed to hear, the obser- to vacant sp
rations of any other Gentleman in opposition to the edges-street
Report, before he addresied himself to the Court ; licable that
but as no person seemed inclined to speak further art was lIPYI
on the' subject, he should take the liberty of mak- moral Mor
lug a few remarks. With reference to what had al- merica, wa
ready parted, as he had heard nothing like a reply, bout four
or evens single observation upon the subject before s furniture
the Court, he bad little to say. If,had been admit- 'amity, we
ted that the introduction of a Militia force• into the ilty.
city waken infringement on its charters. This was
all he (Mr. Waithman) contended for, and all he was -.le-honwe •
I,
desirous of preventing. The Trained Bands were, A' M
her e
Mr. Th
certainly an inefficient force, when they had ceased. for
to be trained ; but had they been properly regulated who broke
and under au efficient Magistracy, he was satisfied erring his 1
they 'would have been adequate to all the purposes is
will s
to which it was said the Militia could be applied.— eof their c
He was of opinion that the interposition of a ruili- ansport,B
tary force in the city of_ London was an actual in- own, ou 1
fringement of the ancient city charters: He con- e fitted u;
tended that the plan suggested by the Report, was Ise Su
of rgeo
fully adequate to every purpose the city might de-7 se
the i
i
modi
sire, and would save to the Government an expence nus
of 50,(X)01. per annum. The Worthy Deputy (Box) led, fro'
lion w
had asked what crime crime could be brought against ill
the Militia Regiments and inveighed in strong ors doing
terms against the injustice of aspersing them with- ertainly 1
out foundation. If . the Honourable Gentleman detaehed
bad read the Report, he would have there found Opt ' ni shore.
question answered. Ile would have found what he' taedical
(Mr. W.) had so often asserted, that the Milled,: iys- , of ago
tern in existence was no more than apathy job. 'tr prefe
Mr. S. Dixos said, when the magnitude of the pinion e
property of the City of London was considered, he the most
I
hoped every man would• see the expediency of sup- ago
porting a military force, and as the Militia regiments a-the hi
the
• already assembled, were applicable-At+ every possible 1 W
. purpose which the city could .me.';:•,.e, he saw ito as well
reason for adopting arty new pie^' or for *altering. t many
cliowlei
those arrangements which had hitherto proved so sae
tisfactory to the majority of the inhabitants of that ncted
u
great town. illy i
Mr. JACKS opposed the motion. He could not large i
tree the propriety of stigmatising the Magistrates of gen tt
London, because some of them happened to be. clip*
d whet
chosen to command their fellow citizens. Ile main-
rained the expence of. raising the London Regiments ri someiest
of Militia Iris not unreasonable; end he coutended• o
that advantages enjoyed by the city,. in b •'.'e.g pro- atieiliar
ind,
tested from having soldiers quart::. upon them
Were such as ought to make 4 cheerfully sub! ell as
• ~'tit to that expence. It was wee t,reason why de it I
standing force should not be necessary now, that it to,
as not necessary two _hundred years ago; for the t one
as
ation of the 'Continent had, siuce that time, un- ,fie
no such a change, as made it necessary foititis table
.to put itself in e proper state df prepare- sOm
concluded with moving_ the following ', exu
te•-• o.
the opinion of this Cows that, in a war of the.
In! importance is is) tbi MAIM is is
, It will be Meaty. - folt " . cle-
to Parlhnocet.e.

A number of forge-men in Leeds sent, the other
day, half-a-crown to a publ ie-house, requesting to have
the amount returned in ;Liu; but the coin being dis-
coloured, the landlady returned it dishonoured; in
this dilemma, the men came .to the resolution to imi-
tate other country artizans, and set up a mint; their
first operation was to beat the half-crown to a proper
consistency, and next to cut it into sixpences, of
which if produced len, and with which they regaled
theniselses in the evening, and were very welcome
'pipit at the housa that, in the morning, bad refused
the 141 f-crown
A meeting took place lately, on the beach
near bray, in the vicinity of Colt, between Cap-
tain S. of the Bth• Regiment of Foot, and -Lieot.
C. of the 550 Regiment ' • when, after aft exchange
,of fire, the interference of the seconds prevented any
farther proceedings, and the parties separated. --
At the Quarter S'ssions held at New Malton, last
week, seven personsin the Methodist connection ap-
plied for licences to preach, which the Court refused".
on the ground, that none of them were appointed to
preach to any specitic congregation.
The new Drury advanees apace, and, althouglls We
know not the exact dimensions of the plan, seems to
occupy the whole of the vacant space left by the
are, The facade to Brydges-street is more simple,
and, we hope, mote practicable than the last, which
our readers may remember, was never finished.
The country seat of General Moreau, at Morris-.
vine, Rear Trenton, in America, was burnt to the
ground on the filth ult. about four 'O'clock in the
morning. All the minable furniture was destroyed,
and the General and his family, we learn, escaped
the flames with some difficulty.
The VestrY of St. Mary-le-bonne have rewarded
Jane Gregsou, the servant of Mr. Thomas, of Oz-
ford-street, with five guine'as, for her exemplary con-.
lege in resisting the robber who broke into her mas-
ter's house, and thereby. .preserving his property from
plunder. We hope this example will stimulate other
servants to a similar discharge of their duty.
We understand that the Transport 13oard have or-
dered a division of the ward room, on board.ete pri-
son ships at Portsmouth, to be fits al up for the ac-
commodation and comfort of the Surgeons belonging
to the said ships ; and that many of them are already
fitted up, and made very commodious and comfort-1
sblc apartments. It is to be hoped, from the above
alterations, that a similar attention will be paid to
the comfort of the Militia Officers doing marine duty
on board the above ships : for certainly they are de-
prived of many comforts, being detached from their
respective regiments, which are on shore.
Mxusest Hoax..-A certain medical gentleman,
more yepaackable for the character of a.good-natured
man, Oen of profound learning or professional ac-
quirement—altbough in his own opinion of equal ce-
lebrity with Hippocrates ofold, or the most recent and
greatly renowned Cullen, not long ago had a case
eominuoicated to him, of calestlus in the bladder, ad-
dressed to him by a nay surgeon in the West Ladies.
To render the case score palatable, as well as proba-
ble, it complimented the Doctor with many fine enco-.1
miums upon,his great and plofound,knowledge in his
profession ; and the suisstatice extracted from the
bladder (differing from all others usuilly generated]
in tbat viacus) having in its centre a large iron nail,
was curiously packed {n a box, -between two cock-•
rosighes, beiog,natives pf a tropiCiti climate, to de-
monstrate the fact pi its.having occurred where stated.
Afteiihe usual reading of the case, some doubts
iftring been offered by one of the Doctor's colleagues,
Ate to its authenticity, he expressed great indignation
,tbereat, beld:R wrong that any civilian should'
!',know as well ea tbe•Doctor."—,As well as to set--
rte the, coot overly, he offered.to decide it by,a bet
'of a rump and doien, Whitt was agreed to, when a
ieCond Doctor havibg been referred to (no doubt
equally sapient with the first) it was decided against
the civilian.thattlee case was not improbable. The
Doctor no considered the decision in his favour he-
yond the possibility of appeal, and most, exultingly
demanded i 'merit of the bet-=when, lo wee
-;tved that ipposed

PIT -
it was.All,o hoax ; for the sui _ cat-
culus was a nucleus taken from a horse's neck; the
writi-

1 Tilt §TAttS

.

ORATOMOS:

• Lest night night Messrs. , Aser,ey. commenced their an-
nual performances of Sacred Music, at Covent-
garde:: Theatre. Gn this occasion they gave a Selec-
tion from some of the most eminent composers,
.arnopg whom liseett. took the lead, as he ought.—
The tenor department was led, on this night, for the
first time at this Theatre, by Signor TRIMEZZANI,
who assumed that station which Mr. Betmixes hath
been accustomed t 6 fill. His voice is extremely mel-
low, and he posseises conside'rable facility in execu-
tion, with great feeling and taste. hi his firsteir,
which was not olthe most happy selrlctioe, he met with
a considerable degree of opposition ; but, in a
duet with Madame CA'rxt..oit, who was in excel-
lent voice, he gave a full display of his power, and
they were most rapturously encored. At. the termi-
nation of the riight's performances C kTALANI executed
1 the Gralias igimustibi, by GUIGLIELMI, in whie.i she
threw forth all her vocal fascination.—Mrs. DICIEONi
sang Fere;:ell, ye limpid Springs, from Jephtha, with
with such skill and force, as enabled her to stand by
the towering CAT.AkANI without any sensible dimi-
nution of her profesiional fame!

AGRICULTURE, arc.

MONTHLY REPORT FOR JANUARY.

The dry weather through the month has proved very favour-
able to the young plants of Wheat, which, in most Counties, I
hold a good colonri and wear in other respects a promising ap-
pearance. A considerable extent of Broad Beam have already
been got in by the drill'and dibble in Kent, Essex, and, Suffolk.
The Markets for Bread Corn have been fortunately kept down
from the large importations of foreign flour, of which there is
a considerable supply iu hand. Our own Wheat Crop of last
year is mucu diminished iu most districts. The Potatoe Crops
turn out abundant, and, from the mildness of the Winter, have
kept better thau has been known for smeral %ears past. The
Turnip Counties continue to abound In feed. The Bay Markets
have experienced but little variatior. Smithfield, and most- of
the principal Cattle Marts, have been well supplied through the
month, but on some advance in prices, partietilarlv for Veal,
House-Lamb, and Pig Pork. Soine.drove of lean Beasts have
come up from the North into Leicestershire and other central
Counties, and from the openness df them eather, have sold high.
Nothing. has been done in the Wool Market to occasion any al-
teration in the value of short or long fleeces the last Month's
Report.

Whenever a reform in the F,cclesiastical ~Courts
takes place, it is to be hoped .that it will no longer
remain a law therein, that a husbend who has per-
jured himself in order to obtain a marriage licence,
may successfully plead this his own criminality to.
Atain a divorce from his innocent wife, and to has-
tardise the no less innocent xhildren of such mar-
• riage.
' The late milling match in the neighbourhood of
Kingston was most numerously attended by the pick -
pockets. Soames, Woodford, Joe Huff, and most
of the thieves out of confinement, honoured the
spectacle with their presence, and were extremely
busy. •
A Lady travelling in a stage coach, a few days
ago, observed, that uk was a very headyfying liquor.
Sixttnisn.—Crib, the Boxing Champion, received
another tribute, due to his pugilistic prowess, at the
Fives Court yesterday, which was extremely crowd-
ed. The setting-to was very satisfactory, in one be-
tween Molitienv anti Crib ; the professors hit, stop-
ped, and rallied with great success. Another good
set.to took place between Molineux and. Power.—
There were several other matches, amongst which
'the athletic NoAinetarnsitire wan exhibited with Mo-
lineux. After an exhibition of a quarter an hour,
to the advantage of Molineux, the latter openly
challenged to 'fight any man in England, in three
months, for 200 guineas down to 10, barring Crib.
The Nottinghamshire Dian informed the audience be
would fight the Black in eight weeks ' • so that the
match is understood. The amateurs had a dinner at
Gregon's, at tee close of the performance—Crib hi
the chair, who was to have received his belt; the
engravings on which; however, are not yet finished,
and the presentation was postponed.
SUILIDE.—An inquest was held on Wednesday
afternoon, before Thomas Shelton, Esq. Coroner for
the city of London, on the body of a young woman,
who was servant to a perfumer, corner of Lombard-'
street, Fleet-street. It appeared in evidence, that
the deceased died on the day preceding, in conse-
quence of having taken a quantity of laudanum.—
Jealousy is supposed to have been the cause of this
rash act. The Jury, after a long consultation, re-
I turned a verdict of lnsantity.
On Saturday last, in the dusk of the evenim,,, a
person calling himself Robert Malcolm, was appre-
hended by Mr. De,novan, Leith, charged with being''
a swindler, and guilty of various frauds and imposi-
tions. When so iipprehended, he told Mr. D. his
name was Miller, but afterwards acknowledged that
his real name was Malcolm, and that he is a native of
'Aberdeen. He underwent a very long examination
bear* the Magistrates of Leith. on Saturday, an&
has been since re-examined. In the course of these,
examinations it appears, that Malcolm obtained con.,
siderable quantities of goods from London and New-
castle, by sending orders to many respectable mer-'1
candle houses in these places, under the assumed I
firms of John Chapman and Co. ; Bain, Miller and
; Brown, Morrison, and Co. ; and Scott,
'and Co. The goods were sent to Leith by :the
smacks, and received by Malcolm on paying 'the
freight. Mr. Denovan has not only been successful
in tracir.g and securing this eery eccentric character,
-but by examining the manifests of the smacks, has
intercepted and detained different shipments of goods,
Which Malcolm would otherwise have received. Se-
veral letters, containing invoices from London, have
also been intercepted.
. A NEW Oaoaa. or Tatzvits.—On Wednesday evening last,
• Mrs. Price, of Titchfield-street, Mary-li -Bone, was induced
imprudently, daring the absence of her husband, to admit into
her house three itinerant musicians, one of whom carried ,a
magic lanthora, with the view of amusing her faintly. The
fellows having been introduced into a parlour on the ground?
, Lour, ohleb was darkened at their suggestion, immediately
prose to display their wanders, to the no small amusement
of the c.hilderta and scrvosits,, who were hit assembled on the
occasion. .Whtle their attention was fixed npon the performs
once, howeier, one of the fellows slipped unperceived out of
,tbe room,- and wentdown stairs to the kitchen, where he found
several valuable articles of silver plate, such as a tea-pot and
ewer,: table and tenopoong. &c. which be secreted about his
and plumed to e parlour unnoticed, and was soon
wish his -- dons, dismissed. They bad not long
was missed, but although an im-
villains retreated with such pre-
It is to be hoped this circuns-
Co deter-others from admitting
as there is little doubt many