sent upon Ubeda, was attended with complete success: the enemy, fearing to be cut off, evacuated precipitately Ubeda, and fell back between Lorca and Basa. District of the Army of the North. The petty war against the brigands continues with activity: the moveable columns do not leave them time to acquire any consistency. Several Chiefs have: been taken, particularly one Urgate, one of the most ferocious. For some time, Espos had re-organised his bands in the mountains of Navarre. The Junta of Valennia had sent him some arms. General Caffarelli set off from Vittoria with orders to penetrate into Navarre by the mountains of Biscay, whilst General Reicle left Pampeluna, and General Dumoustier guarded the passes of the Tagus. On the 9th of June General Caffarelli came up with a strong band in the valley of Ulzana; at the first fire they dispersed into the mountains. We were informed that the rendezvous of the bands was round Estella. Measures were taken to march towards that point, but the enemy had been forewarned, and had passed at Puente la-Reina, proceeding towards Sanguessa. On the 14th General Reicle took that direction, and came up at last with the principal mass of brigands, who were forced to fight. General Caffarelli, who was only a league distant, arrived in his turn, passing through a wood, where he found several hundreds of brigands concealed, a part of whom were killed. The affair was very warm; the brigands were overthrown: more than 600 men were killed on the field; the rest owed their safety to the abruptness of the mountains, which it was necessary to scale. Measures are taken to pursue the wrecks of this assemblage. The wretches have scarcely any clothes, are badly armed, without shoes, and nearly destitute of provisions: their Chief saved himself with fourteen men only, attempting to gain Valencia. Blockade of Figueras. The works of the blockade are in such perfection that it is impossible any thing can go in or out. Disease makes considerable ravage in the place, which is nearly destitute of every thing. His Serene Highness the Prince of Neufchatel and Wagram. Monsiegneur,The defence of Tarragona, become more obstinate in proportion as the attack advanced, had only concentrated itself since the taking of the exterior works of Olivo and Francoli. It was kept up by succours of all kinds, which a land army cannot intercept from a maritime place without the assistance of a fleet to complete the blockade. The suburbs, or the lower town, which comprehend the Fort and the Mole, are covered by a front of fortifications strengthened daily by new batteries, and against which I directed all our efforts. I had the honour to give your Excellency an account of the third assault made on the 16th of June at the Lunette du Prince, with the same success of this point was a first step into the inteas the two preceding ones. The capture rior of the lower town. The artillery immediately transported its breaching-battery, and, with 10,000 sacks of earth, was established on the very ground of the work itself. The engineers pressed more and more the front attacked, opened a third parallel, pushed two debouchés upon the bastion St. Charles, and on that of the salient angle of the covered way of the half moon, crowned the top of the glacis, and in fine executed the descent of the ditch at the angle of the bastion des Chanoines.-On the 21st, an enemy's howitzer blew up the powder-magazine of our breaching battery; in an hour it was repaired: all our batteries, by a continued and well-kept-up fire, silenced that of the breaches. At four in the afternoon, I orenemy, and opened three practicable dered the assault, and at seven all was ready; 1,500 grenadiers were united with sappers and scaling-ladders, and disposed in columns of attack and reserve. They were followed by a thousand workmen. General Palombini commanded the assault. I ordered General Montmarie to command a second reserve at the left of the trenches. He was to be seconded by two battalions of the 7th, and by the fire of Olivo or fort Salme; whilst at the same time on the left General Harispe should make movements to alarm the garrison on the road to Barcelona, and throw bombs among the shipping. (To be continued.) 1 Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent Garden :-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mali. LONDON :-Printed by T: C. Hansard, Peterborough-Court, Fleet-Street, VOL. XX. No. 4.] LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1811. [Price 15. "I looked upon the Bullion Report as likely to lead to what would be likely to secure the country "from the natural consequences of that overwhelming corruption, which I regarded as the fruit of the paper system; and, as I have the accomplishment of this great object deeply at heart; as I look upon the happiness and honour of my country as of far greater value to me than any other worldly "possession, I said, and I still say, that the Bullion Report has given me more pleasure than I should "derive from being made the owner of the whole of Hampshire. As to any idea of a party nature, I "shall, I am sure, be believed, when I say, that I did not care one straw to what party the Committee "belonged. If I had a wish as to party, it certainly would be, that no change of ministry should take "place; for, without prejudice to the OUTS, who, I think, would do the thing full as well with a "little more time, I am quite satisfied, that the present people will do it as neatly and as quickly, as " any reasonable man can expect.”-POLITICAL REGISTER, Vol. XVIII. p. 427, Sept. 22nd, 1810. 97] TO THE READERS. The Sheet containing the TABLES and INDEXES to Vol. XIX, and also the TABLE OF PRICES, &c. &c. is published with the present Number. PAPER AGAINST GOLD: BEING AN EXAMINATION OF THE Report of the Bullion Committee: IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO THE TRADESMEN AND FARMERS LETTER XXVIII. Progress of Lord Stanhope's Bill-Effects of its Provisions-Mr. Brougham's Resolutions-The Justice of Lord King's Claim insisted on-Illustrated by the Grants to the King and the Additions to the Pay of the Judges. GENTLEMEN, THE Bill is past! And, be you assured, that the die is cast! When, I wrote the passage, which I have taken for my motto to this letter, I did expect to see what I hinted at in the close of that passage; but, I must confess, that I did not expect the progress to have been quite so rapid as it has been. For the future my calculations will be more likely to keep pace with events. Well, the Bill of Lord Stanhope is now become a law. We will, therefore, take [98 a short view of the rise and progress of it; and, when we have so done, we will examine its provisions, and endeavour to point out its consequences. The Bill was brought into the House of Lords and read a first time on the 27th of June, when no division took place, and when an intimation was given by the ministers, that they should oppose it. On the second of July, it was read a second time, and, being now supported by the ministers, the question for the second reading was carried, 36 for it, 12 against it. On the 8th of July, it was read a third time and passed, 43 for it, 16 against it. In the Honourable House, it was read a first time on the 9th of July, and, upon a division on the question, there appeared 64 for it and 19 against it. On the 15th of July it was read a second time, 133 for it, and 35 against it. On the 17th of July it went through a comunistee of the read a third time and passed with the House, and, on the 19th of July, it was amendments, relating to the penalties. On the 22nd of July, the amendments introduced by the Commons were agreed to by the Lords. On the 24th of July it received the Royal Assent by Commission; and thus it is become A LAW; thus a new penal law has been added to the almost endless number already in existence. Many hundreds of the people of this country have been banished, or put to death, for imitating the promissory notes of the Bank Company; and now the people are liable to be punished for passing them for what they may deem their worth, though they be their own property. The provisions of the Bill are not numerous it is a pithy affair. The first part relates to the passing of coin and paper, and E inclined to believe it, he need only con sider the little effect produced by the conviction of DE YONGE to convince him of the contrary. That gentleman was found guilty of the crime of selling guineas at Twenty two shillings and sixpence each, and, while he lay under that conviction, the the second to the recovery of rents. It will be best to insert the words. Those of the first part are as follows: "Be it "enacted, that from and after the passing "of this Act, no person shall receive or " pay for any gold coin lawfully current "within the realm, any more in value, "benefit, or advantage, than the true law-price of the guinea rose to Twenty six or "ful value of such coin, whether such "value, benefit, profit or advantage be "paid, made, or taken in lawful money, ❝or in any note or notes, bill or bills of "the Governor and Company of the Bank "of England, or in any silver token or "tokens issued by the said Governor and Company, or by any or all of the said "means wholly or partly, or by any de-hundred guineas to lay snugly aside, and vice, shift, or contrivance whatsoever. I had them to dispose of; the price would " But, Twenty seven shillings. This is a pretty take place in notes of the Governor and Company in Threadneedle Street, for so says lord Stanhope's law. But the law does not say, that such bargains shall not be made in Country Bank notes; and therefore, you give me 135 in the notes of Paperkite and Co. which notes will, in all probability, answer my purpose full as well as the London "And be it further enacted, by the autho-be 1351. but, say we, the bargain must not rity aforesaid, that no person shall by any device, shift, or contrivance what "soever, receive or pay any note or notes, "bill or bills of the Governor and Com"pany of the Bank of England, as of less "value in money, except lawful discount, "than the sum expressed therein, to be "thereby made so payable."-Thus it stood as it went from the Lords. There were, I believe, some trifling verbal alte-notes, or better if I want to pay them rations made in the Honourable House, who also added the penalty, and made it a misdemeanour to disobey this part of the law; of course, offenders against it may be punished by fine and imprisonment, or, as I am, by both, at the discretion, perhaps, of the Judges; but, of this I am not sure, not having, as yet, seen the Act in its finished state. Thus, then, the Bank Company, after having applied to the Government to issue an Order in Council, after having subsequently applied for acts of Parliament, to screen them against the consequences of refusing to pay their promissory notes in coin, now see a law passed making it criminal, for any one to get rid of any of those notes that he may happen to possess for their real worth in coin ! This law does what the laws already in existence could not do in the case of DE YONGE; or, at least, it attempts to do it. It forbids and punishes the selling of gold coin for more than its nominal worth in Bank Notes, which was precisely what DE YONGE did. But, do you believe, Gentlemen, that this will put a stop to the traffick? I should think, that nobody could believe this; and, if any one were away in the country; and, if they should not answer my purpose quite so well, what have I to do but go to the country banker and get them changed for Bank of Eng land notes? I keep the country bank notes if I please, and if I please I change them. This is one way, then, and a most effectual way too, of rendering the Bill of no use as to its main apparent object. Ac But, how many are the ways, in which such a law may, must, and will be evaded ? It is a law intended to make people part with their property for less than it is worth in the one case, and to make them obtain for it more than it is worth in the other case. The old adage of "a thing is "worth what it will bring" is, by this law, to be totally destroyed after having lived in the world ever since purchase, or even barter, was known amongst men. cording to this law, a thing, in one case will be worth more than it is to be suffered to bring, and, in the other case, a thing will not bring so much as it is to be asserted to be worth. It is a law, in short, to compel men to dispose of certain articles of their property (if they dispose of them at all) at a price fixed on by the government; and is such a law as never was heard of before, except in France, during the times I have before observed, that, in all ready-mog transactions, this law must be nugatory, and I have given an instance of a farmer, having a pig to sell at market. It will of course, be the same in all other bargains for ready-money; and, even in cases of credit, amongst friends and neighbours, the same will take place. Some roguery may be, in this respect, created by the law, but the law will never compel men to give the guinea and receive the note at their nominal value, one compared with the other. In that place, where, of all others, one might expect to see the dispositions of men concur with this law; I mean, the Stock Exchange, a distinction between coin and paper is already made; for Stock has frequently been bought with guineas at a price much lower than the rate of the day, which rate is regulated upon the supposition that paper-money is to be the medium. And, who is to prevent this, without a general law of maximum; that is to say, a law putting a price upon all commodities whatever, and punishing men for selling them for more than the price so fixed? This present law, therefore, is nothing of itself. It is nothing unaccompanied with a maximum of prices. Those who have begun in this path, must keep on, and go the whole length, or they do nothing at all, except of Robespierre and Danton and Marat. It is as MR. BROUGHAM has called it, in his Resolutions,a law of maximum as to gold coin; but, it is a law, which cannot be generally enforced, and which can have only a temporary and partial effect, if any at all, in checking the traffic in coin against paper; and to whatever extent it is efficient, it will be efficient in driving all the coin out of the kingdom, excepting such portion as people are enabled to hoard; for, if I have a guinea, or any thing else, that is worth 27 shillings, and if there be a law which prevents me from getting at present in England more than 21 shillings for it, I shall certainly hoard it 'till I can get the worth of it, if I have no safe means of sending it abroad. Where is the man who will not do this? I am sure that there is not a man amongst you who would not do it. Yes, I am sure, that there is not one single farmer in all England, who will not hoard a guinea rather than exchange it for a bank note of twenty one shillings. So that, as I have observed to you before, and as has been very well expressed in MR. BROUGHAM'S Resolutions, this law will, as far as it shall be efficient, drive the little remains of gold coin into hoards or out of the country, and, by preventing a free and open and unrestrained competition between the coin and the paper, will, as far as it has effect, pre-drive coin out of the country or into the hoards, vent the operation of the only cure for the evil of a depreciated paper money. * * It was on the 19th of July, that MR. BROUGHAM proposed his RESOLUTIONS to the House of Commons. They were negatived; and, gentlemen, I beseech you to compare them with such resolutions as were agreed to by that House. These Resolutions are well worthy of attention, containing as they do what will become a memorable protest against the law, which is now the subject of discussion, and which will be a subject of observation with our children, if any trace of it shall remain beyond our own times. I. That by the Law and Constitution of these Realms, it is the undoubted right of every man to sell, or otherwise dispose of his property for whatever he deems to be its value, or whatever consideration he chuses to accept. And that every man pos sessed of a Bank Note, or other security for the payment of money, has an undoubted right to give it away for nothing, or in exchange for whatever sum of money he pleases; or if he cannot obtain what he demands, to retain possession of it. and, perhaps, in many cases, cause a breach of contracts between man and man. II. That any statute, having for its object to restrain this right, would be contrary to the principles of the British Constitution, and a flagrant violation of the most sacred Rights of Property, and the ancient and inalienable Liberties of the People. III. That any statute, having for its object to prevent the Bank, or other Paper Currency of the Country from being exchanged against the lawful money of the realm below a certain rate, would, if it could be carried into effect, cause the lawful money of the realm to disappear, and would, in proportion to its efficacy, preclude the application of the most appropri ate remedies for the present derangement in the circulation of the country. IV. That the free exchange of the lawful Money of the realm with the paper currency on such terms as the holders of each may think proper to settle among themselves, is not only the undoubted right of the subject, but affords the best E 2 To a maximum they must come at last, or what is done will be of no effect at all. " The other provision of the Bill relates" to distress: for rent, and is as follows: "And be it enacted, by the authority "aforesaid, that in case any person shall "proceed by distress to recover from any "tenant or other person liable to such distress, any rent or sum of money due "from such tenant or other person, it shall "be lawful for such tenant or other person, "in every such case, to tender notes of the "Governor and Company of the Bank of Eng"land, expressed to be payable on demand, "to the amount and in discharge of such "rent or sum so due to the person on whose behalf such distress is made, or "to the officer or person making such "distress on his behalf; and in case such "tender shall be accepted, or in case "such tender shall be made and refused, "the goods taken in such distress shall be forthwith returned to the party distressed means of restoring the circulation of the country to its sound and natural state, by establishing two prices for all commodities, whensoever the one currency is from any causes depreciated below the other. V. That no law whatsoever can alter the real value of the paper currency in relation to the lawful money of the realm, nor alter the real value of either kind of currency, in relation to all other commodities; and that any attempt to fix the rates at which paper and coin shall pass current, must, in proportion to its success, interfere with the just and legal execution of all contracts already existing, without the possibility of affecting the terms upon which contracts shall be made in time to come. VI. That it is the bounden duty of the Commons House of Parliament, as the guardians of the rights of the people, to discountenance and resist a scheme which has for its immediate objects the establishment of a maximum in the money-trade of the realm, and the dissolution of the obligations already contracted by numerous classes of the community, but which has for its groundwork principles leading to an universal law of maximum, and the infraction of every existing contract for the payment of money; and that a Bill touching the gold coin which has lately been brought from the Lords, has all the said objects, and proceeds upon the said principles. " "upon, unless the party distraining and 'refusing to accept such tender shall in"sist that a greater sum is due than the sum so tendered, and in such case the parties shall proceed as usual in such cases; but if it shall appear that no "more was due than the sum so tendered "then the party who tendered such sum "shall be entitled to the costs of all sub"sequent proceedings: Provided always, "that the person to whom such rent or "sum of money is due shall have and be "entitled to all such other remedies for the recovery thereof, exclusive of distress, as "such person had or was entitled to at the "time of making such distress, if such person "shall not think proper to accept such tender so made as aforesaid: Provided also, that "nothing herein contained shall affect "the right of any tenant, or other such "person as aforesaid, having such right "to replevy the goods taken in distress, "in case, without making such tender as "aforesaid, he shall so think fit.". Now, what does this part of the Bill effect? It has frequently been said, that the tenantry ought to be protected, and Lord Stanhope has all along said, that his object was to protect the tenant. What, then, has this bill done for the tenant ? If the thing leased be a farm, or lands of any sort, distress is not the mode that the landlord would pursue. He has other remedies, and those much more efficient than that of distress. So that, in fact, this law affords no protection at all to the tenant. But, though this law will do the tenant no good, it may, and, in some cases, will, do him a great deal of harm, especially as the minister has avowed his intention, of making the bank notes a legal tender if this law should prove insufficient for the object in view. Under such circumstances, no man in his senses, will let a new lease, or renew an old one; for, though a corn-rent might possibly serve to guard him against the total loss of his estate, still he will be afraid, and he will think it the safest way to let no lease at all. Tenants for term of years will, therefore, become tenants at will, and will have their rents raised upon them every year agreeably to the depreciation of money and the rise in prices; and, another consequence will be, that landlords will, whenever it is practicable, take the lands into their own possession and use, seeing that even a yearly letting may, in the times that may arise, become dangerous; for, if a law be passed to-day |