PARLIAMENT has been farther prorogued to the 4th of February, when it will meet for the dispatch of business. It has been confidently stated that Government have the intention of paying off the Four per Cents. a measure which will reduce the public burdens about a million and a half per annum. The Four per Cents. are said to amount nearly to 146 millions. The incomes of the holders of this Stock will be diminished in proportion. Some have animadverted upon this embryo plan, because the reduction is not extended generally to all fundholderstherefore it is partial, and cannot be just. Consider, say some, the situation of a man having a wife and family living upon the interest of 5000/. in the Four per Cents. which, of course, yields him 2007. a-year; will it not be monstrous to reduce the interest of that man to 1757. or perhaps to 1501. a-year, and at the same time compel him to pay taxes to the same amount as before? But, on the other hand, it is contended that the primary object of this reduction of the rate of interest upon funded property is to enable the Minister to relieve the country at large from the burthen of some of those taxes which now press roost heavily upon it; consequently, the fundholder, with reduced means, will not be called upon to contribute as largely as before; and, if he be displeased, he must find some other mode in which he can make a higher interest of his capital. The measure will be one of general good, and individual inconveniences must be borne for that end.

Meetings have been held in different parts of the country to petition for the reduction of the malt and beer duty. In the interim, many landholders have found themselves bliged to reduce their rents to prevent their farms being thrown on their hands; and they must reduce them still more, unthey come down to old prices, with the Angle difference in their favour of the increase of taxation since the last general

editor and proprietors have been deservedly found guilty of a private libel on the Lord Chancellor, of a most atrocious nature, charging him covertly with taking a bribe for a place in his gift. They were tried on a second charge for a libel on his Majesty's Government, (we presume his Majesty's Ministers were intended,) and for designing thereby to bring that and his Majesty into contempt. This exofficio reminded us of the worst times of Sir Vicary Gibbs and John Scott, and reflects very little credit upon the AttorneyGeneral's judgment or feeling for public liberty. The attack on the Sovereign was too ridiculous in itself for a grave charge, and had better been left to the oblivion which would have soon overtaken the rabid outpourings of the libellist. The covert end of the Attorney-General was mainly defeated in this trial. The jury would only find the defendant guilty of a libel on his Majesty, not on his Ministers; feeling, no doubt, the utter nonsense of punishing a man for a writing having "a tendency to bring a certain body of responsible men "into contempt," according to legal jargon and legal sophistry, equally against reason and common sense. The third libel too was for the celebrated tendency to bring into contempt" the lawyers; and a miserable medley of falsehood and bitterness it was, but still undeserving the notice into which it has been brought by these trials. All but the Ultras had forgotten it and the stupid malignity of its writer, even if any but outand-out partizans had ever perused it. It is for the sake of the liberty of the press we give this opinion, both on the score of utility and freedom. We hope not to see the times of Gibbs revive again under the present Mr. Anything AttorneyGeneral. That these two last ex-officios originated with the lawyers is evident. The Duke of Wellington could well afford to bear libels ten times more serious, and scorn them, as he has done before. The press can never injure a public servant in his public character, if what it

B

says is not consonant with truth and reason, and is such arrant bombast and frothy declamation as the trash in these two li bels; and therefore they had better have been left to rot, than dragged again to day by ill-judged ex-officio informations. We had hoped to see no more trials for tendencies" to bring into contempt " bodies of men. It is tiine such nonsense were discarded from the heads of our lawyers, where unfortunately it is wont to rule supremest and latest.

A memorandum from the Horse Guards conveys his Majesty's pleasure, that those officers who, on retiring from the service, have been permitted to hold local rank on the Continent, may be considered as enjoying that rank in any country abroad not subject to his Majesty's dominions.

An order bas been issued from the Custom-house of Dublin, apprising the merchants and traders, that the functions of the Dublin Board are to cease, and that all applications relating to the revenue of Customs are to be addressed to the General Board of Customs in London. The Irish Excise Board will be no longer in existence after the 5th inst.

The following letter to the Duke of Wellington has been agreed to and signed by the Grand Jury of Kent:-"We the Grand Jury of the county of Kent, assembled in discharge of our public duties, feel that, in justice to our respective neighbours, we ought not to separate without communicating to your Grace, for the information of his Majesty's Ministers, the

The state of the French Ministry remains much the same as for some weeks past; in fact, there scarcely seems to be any Ministry at all. The attempt of

Charles to restore Ultraism will not succeed; the sense of the people is for a constitutional government, and they will be heard. In the mean time, the journals, on both sides the question, have gone into bitter extremes. Yet it will in time be seen, we think, that the stand made by the press in France has prevented the concoction of measures designed to restore the Bourbon, if possible, to plenitude of ancient power. Associations have sprung up to resist illegal taxation. The Police, in the mean time, is resuming its ancient complexion, and individuals have been charged with selling the portraits of John Hampden and young Napoleon, as if guilty of heinous offences. It is time that Charles XII. should learn that the tricks of his ancestors against liberty cannot be renewed, in these days, with impunity. A report to the King, by the Minister of

deep and unprecedented distress which, from our personal and local knowledge we are enabled to state, prevails among all classes throughout this county, to a degree that must not only be ruinous to the interests of individuals, but must also, at no distant period, be attended with serious consequences to the national prosperity. In making this communication to your Grace, it is our only object to call the attention of his Majesty's Ministers to the real state of the country, in the hope that speedy and effectual measures may be taken to alleviate those distresses which press so severely on the several classes of society."

A Commission is shortly to be appointed by the Crown to inquire into the course of proceeding in suits carried on in the Ecclesiastical Courts: one of the main reasons for the appointment of which Commission may be found in the legal proceedings which have been instituted at so great an expense and with so unprofitable a result, in the case of Dr. Free, Rector of Sutton, Beds, who was charged with gross indecency of conduct and general unfitness for the discharge of his sacred functions. The duty of conducting these inquiries, it is expected, will be committed to the Bishops of London and Lincoln, the Chief Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas, the Chief Baron, Sir John Nichol, Sir C. Robinson, and three or four other persons of equal rank in Church and State.

STATES.

This

Finance, has appeared, on a proposition for negotiating a new loan, by funding a part of the Government floating debt, and borrowing on the vote of credit passed in the last session of the Chambers. report is followed by a Royal ordinance for carrying into execution the recommendation of the Minister, and an announcement of the Ministerial arrangements regulating the biddings for the contract. The extraordinary expenses incurred in the department of Foreign Affairs, of War, and Marine, during the years 1827, 1828, 1829, have rendered this measure necessary. These expenses, before the commencement of last session, had amounted to 54,345,800 fr. or nearly 2,200,000.

In an account of the sitting of the Second Chamber of the States-General of Holland on the 19th inst. it appears, the Ministers sustained a defeat on the proposed decennial budget, and carried the annual budget by a majority of only one This budget, in consequence of the

vote.

smallness of the majority and its connection with the decennial budget, was subsequently withdrawn by the Finance Minister; and as the discussion on the question was looked to as a general trial of strength between the Government and its opponents, it is by no means improbable, that after this defeat, the proposed law for restricting the public press will also be abandoned. This law was submitted on the 11th inst. by a message from the King, to the consideration of the assembly. It is known that for some time past there has been much bickering between the press of that country and the Ministry, and that a strong disposition was felt by the latter to impose restrictions upon it which are not warranted by the existing law; it was not believed, however, that any attempt would be made during the present year to introduce a new law on the subject, and the proceedings seem to have excited great dissatisfaction. The provisions of the project are so rigorous as apparently to be inconsistent with constitutional government. It will be impossible, if it should pass into a law, for any public writer to offer an opinion upon the acts of the authorities; for, although in the first article there is a seeming protection for honest criticism, it is effectually guarded against by the remainder.

The "Star" newspaper, which shows a more intimate acquaintance with the affairs of Portugal than many of its contemporaries, states that the tricks of Don Miguel and the intrigues of his mother are of the same complexion as ever. At Madeira, it is said, a method of getting rid of an apprehended matinous corps of the military was resorted to, worthy the brightest hours of the Roman Nero, namely, by poisoning their food. No less than sixty men of the 13th regiment were taken ill at once. The maker of the bread, a creature of the Governor's, was sent on board a vessel in the harbour, to ensure his personal security.

Ferdinand of Spain has at last decided the great question of an amnesty to his exiled subjects, and that only three classes of persons are to be excluded from a participation in its benefits. These three classes are-1st, the chiefs of the insurrection of the Isle of Leon, in January 1820; 2d, the persons who, on the 7th of March of the same year, forced the King to swear the Constitution; 3d, the persons who, at Seville, proposed, and supported in the Cortes, the Act for suspending the Royal functions. These three categories, even supposing them to be interpreted with tolerable strictness, are very vague in their

comprehension, and keep open a wide door for arbitrary exceptions. The first, including the chiefs of the insurrection at Cadiz, comprises just as many persons as the Ministry choose, of those who supported the cause of the Constitution before it was adopted by his Majesty; the second comprehends, or may comprehend, every individual who may have advised Ferdinand for his own safety, or for the peace of his kingdom, to comply with the voice of his people in restoring their Constitutional rights; and the last may be made to embrace the whole, or nearly the whole of that honest and intrepid band of patriots, who exposed their lives in resisting to the last the modifications in their Constitution proposed at the point of foreign bayonets.

Peace is completely restored in the East, and the Russian troops are evacuating the Turkish territories, as stipulated by the treaty. The peace in Asia was preceded by a battle, in which the Turks were defeated with great slaughter, to which an end was put only by the arrival of the courier with the treaty from Adrianople.

The boasted expedition of the Spaniards against Mexico has ended in the disgraceful capitulation of the invading forces.-The envoy from Mexico to this country, Senor Gorosteza, is the celebrated dramatic writer of that name, so well known in Old Spain, and is descended from one of the most illustrious families of Biscay. He was born in Vera Cruz while his father was Governor there. Having joined the Constitutional party in Spain, he emigrated in 1823, and on arriving in England, he offered his services to the country of his birth. The Mexican Government accepted them immediately, and named him their Consul-general in Holland, giving him afterwards the rank of Chargé d'Affaires; and in consideration of the services which he had rendered, the skill with which he had conducted the negotiations of the Republic, and the high reputation which he had acquired at the different German Courts to which he was accredited, they appointed him Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of London.

The triumph of Santa Anna over the Spaniards will, it is hoped, tend to unite all parties in Mexico, and consolidate the Government, so as to enable it before long to fulfil its relations with other states, and assume a powerful attitude among nations.

A decree of the President of Mexico has been issued, abolishing slavery throughout the Republic. The object of the present decree is to enforce the full execution of the law. The following are the articles: "1. Slavery is for ever abolished in the

Republic. 2. Consequently all those individuals who, until this day, looked upon themselves as slaves, are free. 3. When the financial situation of the Republic shall admit, the proprietors of slaves shall be indemnified, and the indemnification regulated by a law."

A Mexican mail has been received, bringing advices from Mexico to the 30th of October, and from Vera Cruz to the 3rd of December. The Republic had, from all accounts, returned to a state of general tranquillity. Not a word is said in the letters of a Spanish expedition which it was reported had landed on the shores of the Pacific; nor is there any thing respecting it among the files of Mexican papers received last month. Santa Anna was at Vera Cruz, every day receiving letters of congratulation, and expressive of national gratitude, for the late signal services he has rendered the Republic. In the capital it was generally believed that the Ministers were anxious to retire from office, and had determined to give in their resignations so soon as order was restored in the various departments of the State mostly af fected by the general convulsion which the country has recently experienced. Guerrero himself would, it was supposed, be among the seceding Members of the Government, and his office was likely to be filled by Santa Anna.

A new Treaty of Commerce has been agreed upon between France and the Republic of Hayti. The terms are not yet publicly known; it is said, however, that they will be favourable to the creditors of that Republic, and such as will eventually secure the payment of what is due to them.

It is stated, in letters from Colombia, dated the 22d of October, that the friends of Bolivar propose to obtain an act of Congress, vesting the Presidency in Bolivar for life. At the date of the last accounts, at a considerable distance in It, however, does not seem that

he was

Peru.

these letters are entitled to any great credit, and a variety of rumours and statements, during the present disturbed state of Colombia, will obtain. No farther particulars are known respecting Cordova; but the suppression of the insurrection was looked forward to with the utmost confidence. A party of troops, amounting to about 700, which came from Bogota, under the command of General O'Leary, had surprised the advanced posts of Cordova, without allowing the men to communicate with him or give the alarm, while Montilla's force was rapidly advancing on him, and the Governor of Antioquia was making preparations to intercept Cordova, should he attempt to retreat by way of Cacuta.

The latest accounts from New Orleans (of 1st of Nov.) intimate that the health of the place had considerably improved, and that its port was assuming an appearance of activity, from the arrival of a number of vessels, as well from England as from the ports on the Atlantic side of the United States.

Letters from Rio de Janeiro of the date of 30th Sept. say, the National Assembly closed on the 3rd, with a speech from the Emperor remarkable for its brevity. His Majesty merely said, " August and worthy Representatives of the Brazilian Nation, the session is closed." The sessional speeches in most countries communicate very little information, and in this respect Don Pedro does not differ from other sovereigns; but he has at least the merit of unequalled brevity. Great preparations were making at Rio for the reception of the new Empress.

By letters from Alexandria, dated October 18, it appears that the Nile had risen to such an unusual height, that the damage sustained amounted, according to some, to fifteen millions of francs, and to others to fifty millions. Whole villages had been destroyed, and the loss of hunian life is estimated at 30,000.

CRITICAL

Memoirs of Louis XVIII. By a Lady. These are among the most amusing of the scores of memoirs which have appeared within the last fifteen years, and concern, almost exclusively, a period among the most interesting of the Revolution, the first and second restoration of the Bourbons-the most interesting, we repeat, from the embarrassments into which it threw numbers, conflicting with themselves, and balancing between interest and honour, some falling on their legs by accident, and others irrecoverably lost by calculation. Anthentic, or not authentic, the writer is familiar with the story of the times, with

NOTICES.

the persons of the Court, and the gossip of the saloons. Though withholding her name, she de. scribes her family as connected with the Court of Louis XVI. and herself as the confidential friend of Louis XVIII. If the writer is not wholly mys tifying, she tells too much not to be readily recognised by many of the persons of whom she speaks; and, indeed, apparently takes pains, by implications, to identify herself with the Countess who had at least the reputation of unbounded influence over the old King, who, in addition to his fondness for good cheer, loved to prattle with the ladies, and tell untellable tales. To take