The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-04-01 00:00:00

NEW BEER BILL

TO THE EDITOR OP THE STATESMAN.
S,*,--fio far as 1 am able to comprehend the bearings
of this Bill, I am led to think that it will he an injurious
measure. lam not of the opinion that the duty should
lay upon Beer; but if any duty at all is proper, it should
lay upon the Malt. In that case, all consumers wonid
pay; but it is quite clear that the levying a duty upon
Beer, is levying so much upon the poor. Beer is a thing
that the rich have ver little to do with. Such personii
as 'lse Beer are the poor who labour, who cannot *ell do
w itbout it ; and as to persons brewing fur themselves,
that is impracticable in large towns. Thousands of per-
sons are lodgers, and cannot possibly brew ; and as to
housekeepers, it is a rare case to find sufficient conve-
nience for them. 1f it be proper to levy a duty at all,
it' ought to Tall upon all consumers; therefore let
it lay upon Malt. But, generally speaking, it is better
for the Legislature to let the necessary articles in the
eating and drinking way alone.—lt is clearly wrong for
us to pay a tax upon a thing produced in. our own
country. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer be a wise
man he will see very aeon that it is best to let the multi-
tude have the means of living and lodging well, by
their labour; he will find tha', he had better not al-
ways be dabbling in the pockets of the poor. 'Dear Beer,
has in a great measure, been the cause of so many of the
poor ri sorting to Tea. Let the people have the means of
getting good Beer, they will not use so much of that
debilitating liquor. It is the licensing system that re-
quires the attention of the Legislature, lied not what
port of Beer persons may drirlt, when they shall
have paid so much to the Sinecuriste' &e. for
the privilege of so doing. I assure you, Sir, that I
do most sincerely, and not only sincerely, but earnestly
pray, that the Chancellor will keep as much out of my
pocket as possible ; for 1, have a family to slipped, and
every penny kb takes from me, unnecessarily, seems no
other to me than a genteel sort of way of " extracting"
from my pocket, against my consent-21 trust, Mr. Editor,
that we shall have the benefit of your talent, upon the
bearings of this Beer B
1 am, most respectfully,

March 2Gth, 1823.

MAILS.
ARR. DUE. ARR. DUX.
I.... Dublin 0 L.—Holland 0
2.... Waterford.. • ..0 o....liambro 0
0.... G & Jersey. • . .0 I.... France 0
o.... Lisbon 0 o....Flandris . • • ••• .0
o....dottenburg. • I 0....Ma1ta
----

EA. ern TOSS DA r.—Holidayat the Bank.

tt *tatcotan.

TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 1, 1323.

INVASION OF SPAIN.
In spite of all the predictions of our newspapers ; in
spite of the vnspiracies which they hhie hatched in the
French Army, the Duke D'Angouleme arrived at Per-
pignan en the 22d of March. Thus, then, he is gone to
the army, after all. The Morning Chronicle,l using the
language of Lord Byron, now bids the French advance,
and wi n,' not Spain, hut the freedom of their own cows-
tr ! It is surprising how obstinate these people are
upon this subject. 'They will insist upon it, that the
French people are to a state of slavery. No evidence do
they produce of this, except it be to be found in the sen-
tences passed on persons called seditious libellers, not
treaty of whose punishments amounts to the sin-
gle punishment of Mary Ann Carlisle. We read,
eat, the other day some men for libelling the
Chamber of Deputies were sentenced, finee to three
months imprisonment. an.) to ,pay w nof three
thousand francs ; another to three months imprisonment,
and to pay two thousand franca,. Three thousand francs
is a hundred and twenty pounds, or thereabouts. Mary
Atm Carlile has bad a year or a year and a half impri-
sonment, and is to pay (without having a single penny
to pay Stith) fiat hundred pounds fine before she comes
out of prison ! She has petitioned the Parliament ; and
what is the redress that she has received ?—Some men
tried for rioting have been imprisoned, some for a few
months ;_some fur a few days, with like trifling tines of
a few pounds or a few shillings. Punishments which are
a mere nothing compared with those which our Justices
of the Peace have the power to inflict without any
trial at all! Will these babbling newspapers then
cease to talk about the slavery of the French? No : they
will not cease to talk about it; and their besotted readers
will continue to think that whipping and hard labour,
without trial by Jury ; and that even transportation
without trial by Jury. are things that a nation ought to
be proud of.--These babblers form their judgment, orthat
,
rather, found their lies, ou the tales of the gossips
ply between London and Paris, and who know nothing
Omit the state of the people of France; which state is
by far the most happy of that of any nation in Europe;
and, with the exception of a part of the United States
of America, the most happy of any nation in the world.
There is a struggle going on between the old Roy-
alists and the Buonapartists; bat this is a war of
. words, in which the people of that great agri-
cultural kingdom take no part. Property is widely
distributed ; the farmers and proprietors are in a state
of unparalleled ease and prosperity, without any of
the false glare occasioned by paper money. There are
no haughty tyrants to trample whole districts under foot.
There are none of those laws and regulations which ren-
der men slaves while they call themselves free. In short,
all is solid in France. Taxation is next to nothing.—
The Parson is now known by his Ministry, and not by
his powers, as Tithe owner and as Justice of the Peace.
What then does Lord Byron ox the Morning Chronicle
want? When they hear of men being brought before
an Alderman, as was the case the other day in London,
to pay Tithes to a parson, who was performing no duty
in the parish ! when they hear of things like this in
France, then let them begin to talk; but until they do,
et them bold their tongues.. Infinite pains have been ta-
ken to make us believe that the French people are in a
state of slavery. The tendency of this is manifest
enough. The truth ought to be known; and we will take
care that it shall be known before this day week.

THE MARKETS.
All nve4 the country soother fall has taken place ; end
upon an average the wheat is within three pencea bushel
as low as it was before the late rise. The last average
in the London Gazette wakes it 745. a quarter, but that
average applies to three weeks back; beoanse it takes
cep•iderable time to get In all the returns. The average
of three weeks hence will tell us what it is. We think