notes, the country-bankers cannot hope to get off so lightly, seeing that they are no toriously guilty of an act of this sort as often as they set their money mills a going. However men may differ as to other points respecting the banking system, they all agree, that the greater the quantity of paper-money the less must be the real value, in proportion to the nominal value, of that money in other words, that the paper monies which were in circulation yesterday, must have their value diminished by any grist of fresh ground monies put into circulation to-day. This is a proposition universally admitted. Indeed, it is almost self-evident. Hence it is, that the Old Lady in Threadneedle Strect, is continually complaining of her progeny, the country money-mills and shops, while every man, who views the matter in its true light, and who has the good of his country at heart, must sincerely rejoice at the rapid increase of those mills and shops; and, for my own part, I am convinced, that the time is not far distant, when we shall see the paper-money shops exceed in number the shops of the taylors and barbers united. Ici l'on a des As

"offences of clipping, rounding, washing, "and filing, for wicked lucre or gain's "sake," any of the Monies or Coins of the Realm, or of the Monies or Coins of ́other countries, suffered to be current in the kingdom; in short, of any of the monies or coins legally current. In the 15th year of her reign, it being found, that some other method, or methods, not coming strictly under either of the descriptions in the former act; namely, of clipping, rounding, washing, or filing, had been discovered for diminishing the value of the current coins, another act was passed, leaving out the words clipping, Founding, washing, and filing, and inserting in their stead, the following general description: any act, ways, or means, "whatsoever;" and then the prohibition ran thus: "Be it enacted, &c.-That, if any person, &c. &c.-shall, for wicked "lucre or gain's sake, by any act, ways, or means whatsoever, impair, diminish, falsify, scale, or lighten, the monies, or "coins, of this realm, &c. &c. &c. he shall "suffer death, &c. &c.". Now, except one other act, passed in the 14th year of Queen Elizabeth, against counterfeiting foreign coin, the two acts above-men- signats, dès cent francs jusqu'à un tioned, are the only acis, at all relating to "sous;" that is to say: "Paper-money money, that were passed in the reign of "to dispose of here from a hundred francs that Queen; so that, if it be true, that the "to a single half-penny." I remember Jew in question has really been committed seeing these words over a shop-door at under an act of Elizabeth, the ground of Calais, in 1792; and, indeed, notificacommitment must have been different from tions, of this sort, were, in all the seathat stated in the paragraph.This act port towns, or towns near the coast, as of the 18th of Queen Elizabeth makes it common as the notifications relative to High treason to impair or diminish, by any "good wine" or "good wine" or "good brandy;" and act, ways, or means, the monies, or coins, the makers and venders of paper-money of the kingdom. Well, then; let us sec seemed sometimes to have been so hardhow this could possibly be twisted to ap- pushed as to have coined up the very ply to the act alledged against the Jew. shirts off their backs. Well! where was Are Bank-notes monies? Because, if they the harm of this? Their shirts, poor devils, are, to sell a guinea for twenty two shil- made very good money. At last, indeed, lings and sixpence of the said monies is you were obliged to give a hundred pounds, eertainly one way of impairing or diminish for a quartern loaf, or for a couple of rabing, the said monies, or the value of them, bits; but, then, the shoemaker took care at least.- -But, then, what will become to sell his shoes at five or six hundred of the country bankers, who now exceed in pounds a-pair; so that, in the end, those numbers (counting all the partners, both who had sense enough to keep possession of pikes and gudgeons) the trampers em- things of real value, and merely to let the ployed in collecting the rags of which paper-money pass through their hands, sustheir money is made. You would send tained no loss, at the bursting of the bubble. them all on board of ship, perhaps, or give-To return from this digression; can them an opportunity of displaying their any one imagine, that, upon the aboveloyalty by enlisting into the West India quoted statute of Elizabeth, our country Regiment. Aye; but, if the above para-money-makers are all liable to be tried graph be correct; if a man has actually been committed, as a felon, for having done an act tending to impair the bank

for their lives? Yet, I scruple not to assert, that if, upon the statute of Elizabeth, a man be liable to be tried for his life for having

very shortly totally vanish out of circulation; for, the very fact, that such exchanges do take place, is a clear proof that the coin is worth more than its nominal

will have its real worth, the coin will either go into a hoard, or out of the country, if it be prohibited from obtaining its real worth in circulation. A guinea may be in the hands of a man, who may be unable to hoard, or to export, it; but, when out of that man's hands, it will not travel far. Probably the second or third person, into whose possession it may fall, may, from similar causes, be unable to hoard or export; but, the guinea is the last thing that the holder will part with; its progress from hand to hand thus becomes very slow; and the moment it comes into the hands of one who is able to hoard or export, away it goes from circulation entirely, because, if to sell it for its worth be a crime, it will answer the holder's purposes to hoard it, even if exportation were rendered impossible, seeing that at the rate of 13. 6 d. upon the guinea, the hoarder has nearly a year and a half's interest, at five per cent; and during that year and a-half, what are not the chances, that the guinea will become worth twice as much as it is worth now?

sold guineas at a rate which tends to diminish the value of the paper-money, every paper-money maker in the country is liable to be tried for his life.-Let, me, however, distinctly state, that it ap-value in paper-money; and, as every thing pears to me, that there must be an error in the paragraph quoted from the Statesman; because, all other reasons aside, the paragraph talks of felony, whereas the statute talks of treason! Mercy on us, if this were law, and if the law were put in force against all the money-makers in the country, why, the very air would be poisoned with the stink of their carcasses! -I regard these money-grinders as a very useful description of persons; they are, in reality, doing more good than any other description of persons that I know of; they make little noise in their work, but their operations are sure; every inch they gain is held; there is no back-sliding in the progress of their efforts; and, which is not the least amiable circumstance, they not only appear to be, but, in general, really are, wholly unconscious of the great good they are doing.- What, then! would the STATESMAN, who is, generally, so just in his sentiments, condemn all this most populous and most useful class of active citizens to a trial for their lives? Forbid it justice! forbid it gratitude! He is labouring very hard, and very earnestly, in the cause of a reform of abuses and the extirpation of corruption; but, he is not labouring with half so much effect as they are. He is attacking the monster in front, while they, more wise than he, are labouring, and with a certainty of success, to take from that monster the very meat he feeds on.I should like to see, in the Statesman, an explanation of the above-quoted paragraph. It must be, in its description of the law, at least, erroneous; and I am quite at a loss to discover upon what law a commitment for selling of guineas could possibly take place, unless, indeed, the guineas were sold, or exchanged, for other coin; and then, as was before observed, the crime is not felony, but simply an offence, punishable by a pecuniary forfeiture.— If there be, however, contrary to my opinion and my conviction, any statute, upon which a man may be punished, in any way whatever, for taking a premium upon guineas, or gold or silver coin, when exchanged against papermoney; if there be any such statute, and if such statute be put in force, it requires but a very small portion of understanding to perceive, that coin of every sort must

-Oh, no! There is no way now left of keeping the gold coin, still remaining in the country, from totally disappearing; no way but that of leaving every holder of such coin to sell it at any price that he can get for it.The country papermoney, makers have, within the last two years only, doubled their number. The next year will, in all probability, double the present number. It will, at least, greatly augment it. There can be no doubt of that. Consequently, their money will continue to depreciate in an increased proportion. The depreciation must go on with an accelerated velocity. Oh! these paper-money makers are the men!" What an abundance of money we shall have! Every man, of any substance, will make his own money. What a rich nation we shall be! There was a man, belonging to the Mother Shop, who, some years ago, wrote a pamphlet, entitled: "GUI

NEAS AN ENCUMBRANCE." Ought we not, then, to rejoice at our present situation, and our present more brilliant prospects? Of this encumbrance, at any rate, we are nearly rid; and, who knows hut it may be followed by that of the "Na"tional Debt," as it is called? -When

"The Morning Chronicle of canting, because it termed the disgusting verbiage "with which the divorce of BUONAPARTEB "from his Wife, was accompanied, a "Solemn Mockery of a spiritual rite. It I surely is not canting to respect the sacred "institutions of religion; or to say, that "when a despot means to act in defiance "of its most solemn ordinances, it is con

I see a new paper-money mill set a-going, I hail the event as an additional sign of approaching good times; and, amongst all the absurd and ridiculous things that I have ever beard of, the preference, which some people appear to entertain for the manufactures of certain mills, appears to me to be the most absurd and ridiculous. What signifies it what mill the money comes from? What signifies it what it is" temptible to see him exhibit the farce of made of, or whose name is upon it, so that it will pass out of your hand as soon as it comes into it? No man is, I suppose, foolish enough ever to suffer it to remain with him twenty four hours; and, that being the case, what risk does he run? Success, then, say I, to the money-making trade! I do not mean figuratively, but literally. The trade of making money; the mechanical operation of making money, and the vending of that money; a trade, which is regularly working on towards all those effects, which every real friend of his country wishes to see produced, and which may yet make England what she formerly was in the scale of nations.

"whining respect for that which he is at "the moment gressly violating. There is a paper on the subject, in the Examiner "of yesterday, written with the peculiar spirit of the Editor of that Journal, "which shews, that in all ages, and in all countries, divorce has been treated according to the customs of the time and place. It is no more applicable to the question, to state a parallel between the manner of divorce in America, and the "manner of divorce under the present "constitution of France, than it would be "to state a parallel between the age of "Reason in that country, when the most

66

66

perfect contempt for all religious forms "was the order of the day, and the age "of Pontifical authority, when even the 66 pas- Kings were forced to submit to the papal bull, and the sacramental bond of mar"riage could only be dissolved by the "Vatican. What we alluded to, was the "respect which every crowned head ought "to pay to the institutions which conduce "to the religion, the morals, and the hap

piness of his people. And as canting is "in every instance a vicious and hurtful "exhibition of hypocrisy, so it is most "vicious and most hurtful when it is prac"tised in the highest place.-When Mr. "Cobbett asks us what we think of the

NAPOLEON'S PROJECTS. - - Under this head, in my last Number, I quoted sage from the Morning Chronicle, in which paper Napoleon's Divorce had been spoken of as a farce, as an insult to the people of France, as hypocritical, and as irreligious. Upon this I observed, that it was no farce; that there was no sham in it; that it was a real divorce, and for a great practical" purpose. I also said, and, I should think, proved, that, so far from being an insult to the French nation, that nation must necessarily feel itself flattered by the act. I said, that it could not, with propriety, be called hypocritical, seeing that not only" facility of divorce in England, though was it done in the face of the world, but the motives were openly avowed and set forth, and that it was impossible not to believe, that the motives so set forth were the true motives. Upon the charge of irreligion, I expressed my fear, that the Morning Chronicle had given a little into cant, and, having referred to the practice of obtaining divorces in England and America, I asked, why a divorce bill might not also be obtained in France.. -As to the first three heads, the farce, the insult and the hypocrisy, the Morning Chronicle has made no reply; but, with respect to the irreligiousness of the act, he appears still to hold out, and complains, in the following manner, of having been accused of canting. -66 MR. COBBETT accuses

66

"it is foreign to the subject, we have no
"hesitation in saying that we consider it
"as a great national calamity; and think
"it no more a cure for the evil it pro-
" fesses to have in view, than we consider
"a sum of damages to be a compensation
"to any man of honour or delicacy for
"the loss of the sweetest consolations of
life."--Now, I cannot see, that this
much mends the matter. To talk of "
"spiritual rite" as something by which
Buonaparté is to be bound, is quite ridicu-
lous, when we recollect that, in speaking
of him, all idea of a man of religious sen-
timent has been thrown aside.
We re-
present him as having no religion at all;
in that way it has been the constant prac-
tice to speak of him, in this country; but,

a

lumns with matter relating to this dispute; whether I ought now to leave it totally out, as being unworthy of notice; or, whether I ought, for this once, to state, in a few words, what has happened since I last made any observations upon the subject. My own taste and bent are decidedly for the former; but, as some of my readers may wish to know a little of the matter, and, at the same time, may wisely resolve not to waste their time upon reading the correspondence, I think it may be as well, for this one time, to lay before them the substance of it; to pick the "two grains "of wheat out of this bushel of chaff." But, this must be postponed to my next number; matter of much more importance presents itself, with claim irresistible to all the space that I have left.

LONDON COMMON HALL. In page 983 of the foregoing volume of the Register, will be found the Address and Petition of the Common Council, and the King's Answer thereunto.- A few days after that Address and Petition was agreed to, another was agreed to by the Livery in Common Hall assembled. This paper the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs pledged themselves to deliver to the king in person, unless they were positively refused that honour, an honour to which they held the City to be entitled.- -They were refused; and, on Tuesday last, the 9th instant, a Common Hall was assembled to receive their Report, relative to the business.The Report of the Lord Mayor and Sheriff's was, in substance, as follows;

I should not be without hopes of being a great-grand-father before the dispute would end -During the existence of this dispute, we have employed SIX ENVOYS, with all their retinues; and, permanently, THREE and sometimes FIVE COMMISSIONERS. -The expence has been enormous (I will, one of these days, lay the amount before the public;) it continues to be enormous; and, which is the greatest curse of all, there have been volumes innumerable written upon the subject. There have been, including both sides, not less than from six to ten able bodied writers, and (what makes the thing more serious) most of them lawyers, too, hard at work for the last sixteen years. Mercy on us! what bales, what waggon-loads of tautology! Reader, would you not rather be hanged at once, than be doomed to the perusal of the correspondence, relating to this never dying dispute.--I began, in my last NUMBER, inserting the correspondence between MR. JACKSON and MR. SMITH; but, really, it appears, taking in its references, to have no end. They have, amongst them, written, upon this new branch of the dispute, as much as is contained in one of the volumes of Dr. JOHNSON's Works; a twelfth part of as much as DR. JOHNSON wrote in his whole life time! And, what is it about? You read for half an hour, before you come to an idea; and, when you have read the whole letter out, you cannot for your life tell what is, or what is not, the subject matter of it. This correspondence might be very useful to a man who was courting, and who was anxious to try, beforehand, the patience of his wife; for, if she could keep her temper to the end of "That in consequence of the Resolution this correspondence, he need never be of the Cominon Hall of the 14th ult. oratraid of her losing it.But, the cala- dering the Petition to be presented by the mity might, perhaps, be bearable, were it to Lord Mayor and Sheriff's, the City Restop at the point it has now reached. This membrancer had waited upon the Secrehowever, will not be the case. The tary of State, to know when it would be matter will be discussed in parliament. his Majesty's pleasure to receive the PeNights and nights will be wasted upon it. tition, stating a wish at the same time Papers! papers! papers! about America to be allowed to present it at the next will be called for. Motion upon motion Levee. The Secretary said he would conwill be made. We shall have the solemn sult his Majesty; and communicated to quibbling, the puerile trash, which we the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs at the folhave now laid before us, served up again lowing Levee, that it was his Majesty's and again, in all manner of forms. The pleasure that their Petition should be debare printing expences, attending this livered at the Secretary of State's Office, branch only of the dispute, will, I dare his Majesty having for the last four years say, come to many hundreds of pounds in discontinued public levees, on account of paper-money.- -Since I wrote the last the defective condition of his eye sight. sentence, I have been debating with my- The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs offered to self, whether I ought, at once, to declare, present it at the private levee, when they that I never will again cram up my co-presented the Common Council Petition;

SHERIFF'S REPort.