L O N D O No 
tleftroyed, ftill fliowS one of her heads in the Portuguefe 
and Spani(h iflands.—Lord Holland, in the houfe of lords, 
Dec. 6. recommended that in any treaty with Holland a 
ftipulation (hould be introduced for the abolition of that 
traffic. The houfe feemed to concur in opinion with his 
lord (hip; and we trult, that at the prefent moment, when 
fuch an intimate union is about to take place between 
the two nations, this material point will not be forgotten : 
indeed, from what palled in the houfe of commons on the 
3d of May following, we may be pretty well allured it 
will not. 
O11 the 7th of December, Mr. Eden moved, in the 
houfe of commons, for fome papers refpefting the Hate 
of Newgate. He faid, that the grand jury of the city of 
London had reported, that in the women’s ward, where 
there were accommodations for not more than 60 females, 
120 were now confined; in the debtors’ ward, where 
only 100 ought to be, they found not lefs than 340, molt 
of whom were deftitute of clothes and bedding, and with¬ 
out adequate fhelter from the rain. Even the hofpital 
and infirmary were crammed with 120 women, being 20 
above the proper number. The dimenfions of the prin¬ 
cipal room for the women, according to the ftatement of 
Mr. Newman, was 70 feet in length, and 16 in breadth ; 
in this only twenty women were originally placed, fo as 
to have each three feet fix inches in length. Now that 
number was trebled, and every female prifoner had no 
more fpace allowed toiler than one foot three inches; 
they had even lefs, as many were compelled to keep their 
children with them, for want of a home to fend them to. 
The hon. gentleman remarked, in conclufion, that the 
perfons thus confined were convifts lentenced to tranf- 
portation, but waiting the means of conveyance ; and 
prifoners committed on fufpicion of crimes, waiting for 
trial. The hardened were mingled with thofe who had 
but juft committed a firft offence, and who, if they had 
brought a lingle feed of virtue into that horrid den, would 
foon have it choaked in the company of the moft aban¬ 
doned. 
Sir James Shaw faid, that the over-fullnefs of Newgate 
was occafioned by the failure of the late infolvent-debtors’ 
aft. The number confined amounted to 350, which ren¬ 
dered it ijnpoffible to feparate the unfortunate from the 
depraved. The city of London intended to remove all 
debtors from Newgate, and a building was erefting for 
that purpofe, which would contain 500 debtors. No ob- 
jeftion, however, was made to the produftion of the 
papers ; and the motion was agreed to. 
On the 10th, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply 
to fome obfervations of Mr. Grenfell refpefting the de¬ 
preciated ftate of our copper-currency, faid, that it was 
intended to produce a general reformation of the copper- 
currency, by calling in the Tower-halfpence, fupprefling 
the private tokens, and ordering an iffue of improved 
value.—This converfation caufed an alarm in the city, 
in the expectation that the old halfpence would be imme¬ 
diately cried down. A meeting of tradefmen was con¬ 
vened at fome tavern; and they (illegally) determined to 
accept of none but the new copper coin; and the confe- 
quence has been, that good old Tower-halfpence are now 
become of no value. The fubjeft was therefore again 
mentioned in the houfe on the 14th, when the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer faid, that, “ in corifequence of the mif- 
apprehenfion that prevailed among tradefmen in the me¬ 
tropolis, and their having refufed, to a certain degree, 
the copper-currency of the realm, he thought it proper 
to ftate, that it was illegal to refufe the Tower-halfpence, 
which, on the ilfuing of the new coin, would be received 
at the Mint at their full current-value. He trufted this 
declaration would remove all needlefs alarm.”—The ex¬ 
planation, however, came too late : only a few fhops in 
the metropolis will take the good old halfpence ; and the 
magiftrates decline to receive informations againit thofe 
who refufe them. 
VOL. XIII. No. 913. 
As propofals to negotiate for a general peace had been 
offered by the allies to Bonaparte, and as he had accepted 
the balls of thofe propofals, (lee p. 350, 1.) it was yow 
thought proper that the parliament Ihould be adjourned 
for a long period, in order to releafe lord Caltlereagh 
from his attendance here, and difmifs him to the conti¬ 
nent, as if he were the only man capable of managing 
our affairs at home and abroad. On the 20th of Decem¬ 
ber, therefore, botli houfes adjourned to the iff of March; 
and fubfequently, for the fame reafon, to the 21ft. 
On the 27th of December, lord Gaftlereagh took leave 
of his royal highnefs the prince-regent. His lord (hip, ac¬ 
companied by his lady, two fecretaries, and four me lie ti¬ 
gers, befides fervants, let oft' the next day for Harwich, 
whence they failed on the 30th for Holland. After ar¬ 
riving at the Hague on the 5th of January, lord Cafile- 
reagh, leaving his lady behind, continued his journey by 
land to Frankfort, where he arrived on the 15th ; to Bade, 
on the 18th ; and thence to Chatillon-fur-Seine, where 
the congrefs was opened on the 5th of February. All 
hearts went with his lordlhip in the wiffi that he might 
forward the work of peace ; though none could antici¬ 
pate the mode in which it was to be fo happily effected. 
That this nation, as well as others, had need of peace, 
may be feen from the following lift of the number of 
bankruptcies, lince the re-commencement of the war, in, 
England and Wales only. 
In 1803 -------- ^is- 
In 1804 ------- - 842^ 
In 1805 - -- -- -- - 79*. 
In 1806 - -- -- -- - 9 oj; 
In 1807 - -- -- -- - 944 
In 1808 - -- -- -- - 1,09* 
In 1809 - -- -- -- - i, 0 88 
In 1810 -. x,688 
In 181 r - -- -- -- - 2,056 
In 1812 - -- -- -- - 1,616 
In 1813 - -- -- -- - 1,557 
Bankruptcies lince the commencement of the war 13,695 
Six thoufand more might probably be added for Scotland 
and Ireland; and five times that total for failures equally 
mifchievous to the parties, but fettled by a compofition : 
the whole forming a total of 108,000 traders, ruined 
within the laft ten years. When alfo we confider the de¬ 
pendants, relatives, and conneftions, of 108,000 of the 
moft aftive traders in the empire, can we doubt how 
grateful the return of peace muft be to the majority of 
the people ? 
It appears by an official report lately publilhed by the 
commiffioners for managing the finking fund, that they 
had purchafed, on the 21ft of Dec. 258,409,466k 15s. 6d. 
of capital itock, which borean annual interelt of7,833,0881. 
and that, as the public debt of the country on the 5th of 
January, 1786, when the finking fund was firft eftablilhed, 
was but 238,231,248k 5s. 2-Jd. more than the whole debt 
which then exifted has now been liquidated, by above 
twenty millions.—It appears alio by another official do¬ 
cument, that the outftanding exchequer-bills, or unfunded 
debt, amounted on the 5th of January, 1814,1047,156,8001. 
of which three millions are held by the Bank of England,, 
without intereft, and three millions at three per cent, in- 
terefl, to be paid fix months after peace.—The income of 
the confolidated fund for the quarter ending on the 5th 
Jan. 1814, amounts to 11,352,0001. exceeding that of the 
correfponding quarter of the year 1813, by 1,014,000k 
The charge upon the confolidated fund is about 12,000,000k 
being an excefs of about 279,000k compared with that of 
the 5th Of January, 1813. The deficiency, it thus ap¬ 
pears, is not more than 647,000k whereas in the year 1813 
it amounted to 1,383,000k The war-taxes, after deduft- 
ing 614,000k carried to the confolidated fund to defray the 
charges of different loans, have produced about 3,829,000k 
5 C yielding: 
