not been beneficial, and no brighter and hereafter asking. Den mark will probably be long kept in opposition to British interests, by the recollection of bitter injuries, and poor Prussia, too feeble to move, must reap the fruits of her rash and imbecile councils, joining a fatal and ill-planned coalition. Russia intent on spoiling Turkey, is not likely to be diverted from her subserviency to France, as the price of being permitted to receive such a part of the plunder, as the haughty Napoleon may condescend to allow to a power confessedly so feeble as Russia, the brute force of whose widely scattered population, sunk in barbarisin, and possessing only the lowest grade in civilization, is unable to cope with the more polished nations of Europe. Opposed to Turkey, as still more feeble, and degraded by want of intellectual cultivation, she may possess relative power, but in conflicts with Europeans, her capabilities are extremely small. From this view of the Baltic powers, little eo-operation can be looked for by England. prospects open to a burdened people, who yet suffer themselves to be misled, by their credulity, their fears, and their avarice. For while the nation is sinking, and the public good little attended to, many are making private gains in one way or another, from the continuance of the war. Hence the ever repeated fallacy of magnifying trifling advantages, and glossing over defeats and mismanagements, and the ready belief given to such soothing delu sions. This disposition may assume, the fa se name of patriotism, but sordid self interest will be found its basis. Rumours of a rupture betweeen Russia and France are kept afloat, and hints are thrown out of the co-operation of a British fleet in the Baltic, in certain previously concerted plans. If these are not idle rumours to gratify the insatiable de sire for news, and to keep up systematically the popular delusion and fondness for war, we may have once more to lament the fatal propensity of restless, ambitious, but weak statesmen to stir up fresh broils as impotent as their former schemes; and to read the defeat of another continental coalition in the sufferings and miseries of the dupes to such injudicious polities, and in the further aggrandizement of that power for the overthrow of which such impotent and rash plans are unwisely concerted, and bunglingly executed. Coalitions of nations with separate interests, contain the seeds of their speedy dissolution. Sweden without feeling much interest in a change of rulers, is likely, at least for the present, to continue quietly under the Lieute nant of Bonaparte, and to permit Bernadotte to exercise the powers of royalty, now as Crown Prince, Matters appear to be gradually verging to hostilities with the United States of North America. As the hostile orders in council, to prohibit commercial intercourse by American vessels bringing their produce to these countries, expected as a measure of retaliation, has been hitherto delayed, it will probably not take place, till the result of the new Envoy's mission to America is known, but without a change of system on the part of our rulers, war is considered by some as inevitable. In the mean time a mode of retaliation is adopted, which, it may be feared, will throw an additional obstacle in the way of an amicable settlement. Higher duties are proposed to be laid on American produce brought in Americau vessels: in BriTaiu on timber, cotton-wool, and pot Besides 1. and pearl ashes-in Ireland on the two former, and on tobacco. these, and an additional dưty on hemp, we are to have no fresh taxes in this country. The one on tobacco will be severely felt by the poor. Ireland Bas borrowed 7 mil hions, but England becomes security for 4, and for this boon great credit is taken for liberality, while the fact really is that from the failure in the duties on the imports of last year, and the unproductiveness of the new taxes, this country manifests that it is incapable of bearing additional taxation at present, or that new taxes could be laid on with any prospect of increasing the revenue. The duty on cotton-wool will be severely felt both in Great Britain and' Ireland, in the present depres sed state of the cotton manufacture*. But it is a continuation of the unwise policy, which produced the orders in council. In the eagerness to annoy neutrals, great injury may be done to our manufacturing interests. The Duke of York has been res tored to the office of Commander in Chief. It is to be regretted that the Prince Regent has contravened that popular sentiment which occasioned the Duke formerly to resign after the investigation of his conduct in parlia ment. But such often is the effect of the intrigues of courts, and of the compromises for gaining support. How often is honour thus bartered! ---- We hear the duty on cotton-wool is abandoned. The following subscription has been received since our last for PETER FINNERTY. Richard Talbot...............10s. DOCUMENTS. SMITH, MAYOR. A Common Council, holden in the Chamber of Guildhall of the city of London, on Thursday the 2d, Day of May, 1811. ed to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in testimony of the deep and grate ful sense entertained by this court of his public virtues, and amiable and endearing qualities; of the purity of his constitutional principles, exemplified by his unvaried attachment to the rights and liberties of the people; of his exalted forbearance and moderation during the whole of his Royal Father's afflicting indisposition; and of his national expenditure, by any temporary rare self-denial in refusing to increase the addition to his state and dignity as Prince Regent; thus practically illustrating the union which must ever exist between the feelings of a great and patriot Prince, and the happiness of a free and loyal people. RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY, .That the freedom of this city be present RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY, That his Royal Highness be requested to honour this city by his acceptance of the said freedom. RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY, That the copy of the said freedom be presented to his of Oak. Royal Highness in a box of British Heart WOODTHORPE. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. Declaration of the livery of London, May Sd, 1811, at the public Dinner. "That towards the close of the unjust and calamitous war with our fellow-sub jects in America, it was declared by the Livery of London in common hall. That our excellent constitution appeared in no circumstances more grievously defaced, than in the unequal representation of the people in parliament, which continual experience had proved to be no less productive of calamities to this country, than depredatory to the rights of Englishmen.' "That about the same period similar declarations were made by numerous public meetings throughout the country as well as by the most disinterested and enlightened statesmen of the time, who predicted a continuance and an increase of national grievances and calamities, unless a speedy reformation were effected in the representation of the people in parliament. "That since that period, the same hate ful system has been pursued-the same pernicious influence exercised and widely extended-frequent and daring viola tions of the law and constitution committed-the best blood and treasure of the nation profusely wasted-the public bur dens enormously increased a depreciat ed paper currency established, which has caused the current coin of the realm to disappear-an army of placemen, pensioners, contractors, jobbers, surveyors, inspectors, assessors, tax-gatherers, their.agents and emissaries, created and enriched, whilst the great body of the people have Eeen pining under grievous and unequal taxation. We have also seen great public delinquents and violators of the constitution escape with impunity, whilst those who have dared to expose public a buses, and to resist innovations of the constitution, have been pursued with unrelenting rigour. 14 "That such has been the progress of corruption in the representation of the people, that we have seen it openly avowed in the house of commons itself; and when Lord Castlereagh and the Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, both ministers of the crown, were charged with being concerned in corrupt traffic for seats in that honourable house, they were defended and inquiry rejected, upon the alleged notoriety of such practices, which were there declared to be as notorious as the sun at noon day;' practices, as the speaker of the "honourable house declared at the bare mention of which our ancestors would have startled with indignation!' That nothing can more strongly demonstrate the corruption and degeneracy of parliaments, than that during the whole course of our late wars, notwithstanding the waste of blood and treasure, the many unfortunate and destructive expeditions the numerous failures and disasters we have experienced-no want of confidence has appeared no symptom of distrust manifest ed-no effectual inquiry instituted-but that, on the contrary, a determination has appeared to stifle or evade every attempt to promote investigation, or to reform abuse and we have seen the same unlimited confidence alike extended to all administrations. "That by the predominating influence of a borough faction, every constitutional check and controul upon ministers appears to be completely lost; and we cannot but apply the expression of Lord Barthurst to Dr. Swift, That were his Majesty to appoint his body-coachman prime minister, the wheels of government would move just as easily as with the sagacious driver who now sits upon the box.' "That nothing short of a full, fair, and free representation of the people in parlia ment, can afford a remedy for public grievances, restore our constitutional rights and effectually secure his Majesty's crown, and dominions. That we will use every constitutional means to obtain this essential end; and we do hereby pledge ourselves, and invite our brethren of the Livery, as well as all the electors of the United Kingdom, to vote for such candidates only as will engage to support every measure which has for its object a reform in the representation of the people in parliament.” PAISLEY MEETING. At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town and suburbs of Paisley, held pursuant to advertisement, March 30, to take into their consideration the propriety of tioning the House of Commons, on the addressing the Prince Regent, and petipresent calamitous state of the country, the following address and petition were agreed to: TO THE PRINCE REGENT. The dutiful Address of the Inhabitants of the Town and Suburbs of Paisley. "May it please your Royal Highness, "With the most sincere attachment to your person and interests, as will ap pear from the undisguised and upright sentiments impressed upon our hearts, "It is with the most lively emotions of sympathy, we commiserate your Royal Highness on the late melancholy event, which induced the two houses of parlia ment to place in your hands the reins of government.-At the same time we observed, with marked indignation, the conduct of the servants of the king, your father, who annihilated (in your person for a time) some of the distinguished prerogatives of the royal power, derogatory to your character as a man, and highly injurious as a Prince-restrictions which we consider as altogether unnecessary, when we reflect on the much admired filial affection, and other amiable virtues, of your Royal Highness. "Thoroughly convinced that your mind is actuated by every principle which is truly noble, generous, and good; and that your superior wisdom hath preserved you free from the fetters of any party; we presume to lay before your Royal Highness grievances which, we hope, from your known complaisance, will meet with that attention which the importance of the subject demands. The general shock which public cre dit has received throughout the nation; and the numerous bankruptcies which have taken place in consequence of that shock, has produced, in our minds, sensations in the highest degree alarming. That confidence, so essentially necessary in a commercial country, is entirely gone, and nothing but impending ruin stares us in the face. Almost every description of society is labouring under privations unexampled in the annals of our history; and numbers who were formerly in very easy circumstances, are reduced to the sad alternative of receiving relief from the benevolence of their more opulent neighbours. "Under circumstances so afflicting, we observed with the deepest concern, that in a select committee of the house of commons it was reported that the low state of trade has risen chiefly from wild speculations en tered into by our merchants to South A mericas we observed also, that the said report mentions other causes which led to this depression, without explaining them. We are of opinion that no evil can be remedied without particular attention being paid to the origin of that evil; and it appears evident to us, that the accumulated and still accumulating distress proceeds from the exclusion of our commerce from the continent of Europe. We are fully aware that the shutting of the continent against us was the result of our orders in council and the blockading system-a scheme highly impolitic and dreadfully prejudical to the interests of commerce, and which affords irrefragable proof of the blind policy adopted by an imbecile administration, whose public conduct shews them utterly incompetent for managing the weighty affairs of a great empire. It was this same system which shut the continent of North America, against us, and, if still persisted in, will in all probability, end in a rupture with that couns try, and render our condition still more alarming We deeply lament the long continuance of the war in which we are involved, carried on at a vast expense of blood and treasure, and daily adding to our already enormous taxation burthens too hea has its origin in corruption-and consigns to infamy all who come within the sphere of its attraction. Its primary object is oppression and injustice; alike hostile to the true interests of the crown, and subversive of the just rights and liberty of the subject. It is the source of wars unnecessary and unjust; destructive to the happiness, and fraught with misery to the human race. Under the influence of this baneful system, the established laws of the realm have been evaded-and in a late instance when two of his Majesty's cabinet ministers were charged before the house of commons with trafficking for seats in parliament, which was offered to be substantiated by evidence at the bar of their house, it was rejected by a majority of its members, because the frequency of the practice "was as potorious as the sun at noon day." Men of great talents, eminent virtue, and superior wisdom, may give a temporary relief, but it is only by a change of system, that permanant and radical cure can be effected; that change can only be accomplished by granting to the people an adequate share in the representation of their country, founded on the eternal basis of justice-fair, free and equal. As a preliminary step to the attainment of these desirable objects, we would hail with joy the dismissal of those men from your councils who are unworthy of your confi dence, and the happy selection of men of virtue and talents, who might be the means of restoring the blessings of peace and commerce to a brave, virtuous, loyal, and affectionate people. vy for us to bear, without the smallest prospect of attaining the end for which it was undertaken. Although these corroding evils prey deeply on the very vitals of the constitution-they are but the effects of a system which, if still persevered in, will in the end destroy that venerable edifice, once the pride and glory of Britons, reared by the wisdom and sealed with the blood of our ancestors.-It is a system that 66 Signed in name and by appointment of the meeting, “JAMES DAVIES, Chairman. JOHN M'NAUGHT, Secretary." To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, the humble Petition of the persons subscribing, residing in the Town of Paisley, and Suburbs thereof, SHEWETH, "That your petitioners, in consequence of the depressed condition of trade, have of late been subjected to difficulties unknown at any former period. That at present such is the low state of the cotton manufacture, that great numbers have been thrown out of employment, and the wages of those that are employed have in general been reduced two-thirds within the last ten months, so that it requires great exertions for an individual to procure the necessaries of life. How dreadful then must be the situation of a rising family! And such is the general distress, that of a population of about 30,000, upwards of 1200 families, who formerly supported themselves by their own industry, are reduced to the sad necessity of receiving precarious and temporary assistance from their humane and more wealthy neighbours. Bank That the present calamity, though first felt by the manufacturers and operatives, has not been confined to them alone, but has extended to almost every rank and profession, involving in ruin many respectable individuals of large capital. ruptcy has succeeded bankruptcy to such an alarming extent, as nearly to destroy all confidence between manufacturer and merchant. That the present depressed state of our manufactures is chiefly owing to the exclusion of our commerce from the Continent of Europe, and the stop. page of our trade with America, in consequence of our orders in council, and the blockading system; and until more liberal and enlightened measures are adopted by Government, we cannot see any prospect of an end being put to our just complaints. "That the present mode of returning members to your honourable house, by such a small part of the population, is the primary cause of the evils which this country labours under, as it destroys that connection which ought to exist between the people and the representation. "That a full, fair, and free representation of the people in parliament is absolutely necessary, not only to give energy to the state, but confidence to the people, who, being restored to that place, and those privileges in the constitution, to which they are well entitled, would cheerfully submit to the sacrifices they which might be called upon to make, in order to preserve the independence, and promote the welfare of their country. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray, that it may please your honourable house to address his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, beseeching him to dismiss the present ministers from his Councils, and restore unto the nation the blessings of peace. And your petitioners earnestly entreat, that your honourable house would take into your serious consideration the present alarming state of the country, and adopt such mea sures as may in your wisdom appear best BELFAST MAG. NO, XXXIV. calculated to afford relief; and your pe ̧ titioners as in duty bound shall ever pray. Resolved, That the Honourable Archibald Spiers, the county member, be requested to present the address and petition. Resolved, That the address and petition be published in The Glasgow Chronicle and Courier, and in The Statesman, London Newspaper. JAMES DAVIES, Chairman. JOHN M'NAUGHT, Secretary. MEETING OF PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. Ar a numerous and most respectable meeting of Protestant Dissenters of various denominations, and other friends to Religious liberty, residing in different parts of the United Empire, held at the London tavern, Bishopsgate-street, on the 15th of May, 1811, SAMUEL MILLS, esq., Chairman, the following Resolutions were agreed to: 1. That this meeting believe that there are at least two millions of Protestant Dissenters in the kingdom of England and Wales, including persons of opulent fortunes, high literary attainments, and active benevolence; that their exertions have contributed to promote industry, knowledge, good morals, social order, and public prosperity; that they are not inferior to any fellow subjects in fervent love to their country, nor in ardent loyalty to their venerable Sovereign, whose early promise to "preserve the toleration inviolate," has made an indelible impression on their hearts, and that any means which might excite their discontent, and enfeeble their attachment, would therefore at any time, and especially at this period, be inconsistent with the national interest, and with wise and liberal policy. to 2. That although this meeting consider the right to worship GoD according individual judgment as an inalienright, superior to all social Regulations; and although they have long anticipated a period when all Penal Laws for worshipping God according to their consciences would be abolished, they have been unwilling to agitate the public mind for the attainment of their hopes, and presuming that no persons would in this age venture to assail the Act of Toleration, after the ever memorable declaration of the king, they have been content to regard it with grateful emotions, and to esteem it as an effectual protection from the recurrence of former persecutions. 3. That the persons assembled at this xkk |