286 



raised to 18b. dd., and ia 1803 it was farther 

 raised to 348. per quarter. He now Htated 

 the progress of the duty ou spirits. In 

 1791 the duty was about -21. 10s. per quar- 

 ter ; in 1793 it was raised to 21. 178. 4d., 

 and in 1796 to 41. 3s. 4d. per quarter, and 

 8o on, till it reached its present amount of 

 101. the quarter, exclusive of the duty as 

 derived from malt and beer. Now he beg- 

 ged the house to consider how this operated 

 on the grower. Supposing an acre of land, 

 to produce 4 quarters of malt barley, the 

 duty 28s. per quarter would amount to 

 51. 12s. per acre. The duty on malt and 

 beer together would amount to 121. per 

 acre, and the duty on spirits, at the same 

 average of 4 quarters to the acre, would 

 amcunt to 401. on the acre. Takipg the 

 average from the year 1791, he found that 

 the consumption was 27,672,047 busfeels. 

 Then came the high duties in 1802 and 1803. 

 After this, taking the average and begin- 

 ning with the year 1804, there was a con- 

 sumption reduced to 23,450,000 bushels, 

 and in the last four years the average was 

 22,600,000, making a diminution of five 

 millions of bushels in the consumption as 

 compared with the year 1791. In Scotland 

 the diminution was in that time nearly 

 one half; and in Ireland it was still greater. 

 In 1791 in that country, taking the same 

 averages, the consumption was, 4,855,000 ; 

 in 1804 it was 2,750,000 ; and, in the last 

 four years, not much more than one million. 

 This was the exact diminution; but, by 

 a comparison of the increase of population 

 within the time mentioned, we should find 

 that it ought to be considered greater. By a 

 simple calculation in the rule of three, we 

 should find that the population, since 1791, 

 being increased, and the consumption less, 

 the proportion of decrease must be consi- 

 dered greater than the nominal amount he 

 had stated. If the calculation was made 

 upon a population of 10 millions of people 

 consuming upwards of 27 millions of 

 bushels, as was the case in 1791, the de- 

 fect of consumption in 1804, considering 

 the increased population at that time, would 

 appear 12,675,000 bushels ; and in 1818, 

 the defect would be 14,672,000 bushels ; or, 

 in other words, making a diminished con- 

 sumption of 1,824,000 quarters within the 

 period of 30 years. In the year 1803, the 

 number of bushels consumed was 31,900,000; 

 ia 1804, it was reduced to 22,421,000 ; in 

 1805, it was 22,343,000; in 1806, when 

 the increased duties began to operate, the 

 consumption was 27,400,000; in 1807, it 

 sunk to 24,920,000 ; and, in 1808, it 

 was 23,486,000. He stated the annual 

 amount of the consumption in Scotland 

 during the same term of years, and showed 



Political Affairs in March. [April i. 



On Feb. 28 Mr. Plunkbtt carried 

 th(! lonj^-eonte.sted motion for a com- 

 mit (ee for the relief of the Catholics, by 

 227 to 221 ; and on the 16lh of March 

 an illiberal motion of Mr. Baukes, for 

 excluding- Catliolics from Parliament, 

 was lost by 211 to 223. This conces- 

 sion to the intelligence of the age i.s 

 therefore likely to be made. 



NAPLES. 



The Holy Alliance having resolved 

 ou the invasion of Naples for no other 

 reason than its determination to have 

 a constitutional form of government, 

 a meeting extraordinary was called of 

 the Parliament, when the following 

 admirable declarations were promul- 

 gated : — 



" The National Parliament declares — 



" 1st. That it cannot agree to any of the 

 propositions communicated to it on the 

 part of their Majesties the King of Prussia, 

 and the Emperors of Russia and Austria — 

 propositions tending to the destruction of 

 the existitig constitution and to the occupa- 

 tion of the kingdom. 



" 2. That it considers itself incompetent 

 to attribute to the free will of his Majesty 

 any act, past or future, which may be 

 contrary to his oaths confirmatory of the 

 constitution ; and consequently it considers 

 his Majesty, with respect to such acts, a.* 

 placed in a state of coercion. 



" 3. That during this state of coercion of 

 his Majesty, the Duke of Calabria, his au- 

 gust son, shall continue regent of the king- 

 dom according to the mode pointed out by 

 the decree of the 10th December, 1820. 



" 4. That, in conformity with the declara- 

 tions contained in the preceding articles, 

 and according to the constitution, all mea- 

 sures to be taken for the safety of the 

 state.'' 



Considering the necessity of rendering 

 more clear and manifest the principles of 

 public law which regulate the nation of the 

 Two Sicilies, the parliament declares, 



" Ist. That the nation of the Two Sicilie* 

 is the natural ally of all those nations which 

 enjoy their own constitutions or otherwise ; 

 and that, according to the particular rela- 

 tions established by constitutional methods. 



" 2. That it does not intermeddle with 

 the government of other nations, nor will 

 it tolerate that others shall meddle with 

 its government ; and it is disposed to em- 

 ploy all its means in order that no other 

 powermay recede from these principles. 



" 3. That the nation otfers an asylum to 

 foreigners banished from their country ou 

 account of liberal opinions. 



That it will never make peace with 



4 

 that it was in the same proportion as that of an enemy while ocdujiying its territory." 

 England. — ■ • ; ' • 



His resolutions were carried by 14.'} Referring to the 4?h article of the consti- 

 to 121, and among the latter were about tution which is thus conceived,— " the na- 

 40 plaeemeu. t*"" 



