1804.] 
eome-his fituation, if fuch language could 
be held to him. Mr. Frere, on fecing 
the article, called on Gi Tanee, in a 
very manly letter, to difavow the fuppof> 
ed conve! fation. ‘The Prince returned a 
molt tevalive anf{wer; and our miniller per- 
fitted in bis demand witn that. firmnels 
which his. high dignity required, ell, 
pe rceivin g that the Prince would can- 
tinue to avoid explanation, he thoughe 
it neceflary to: tr: anfini: an’ account of 
the affair to -his ceouit,-and te decline 
further intercourfe with the Prince:— 
Ris correfpondence, which has appear- 
ed in our papers, is extremely intsrett. 
ing. It bears the marks of  charadter 
we have afcribed it, and does hcenour 
to our minifter; while it affords one ex- 
ample more of the ftate policy of France, 
and the enflaved ‘condition of every na- 
tion in amity with her. 
At home, the principal events have 
arifen chiefly in Parliament. Mr. Piit’s 
Bill for as general Defence has paffled 
into alaw. It appears to be rafh as a 
military meafure. The militia is a true 
army of referve; and to reduce it by 
many thoufands is a range experiment 
an the face of an enemy, for fuch we mult 
call our fituation. In a_ conftitutional 
and moral point of view, the objections 
made in Parliament to the bill, had much 
of the appearance of folid argument. 
Tt was reprefented as a bill to give an 
€noimous extent to the power of the 
crown, and to carry the diffolute and un- 
principled habits of the OES trade 
into the very homes and hearts of the 
peafantry, by transformi: ¢. every parifh 
- officer into a recruiting ierjeant. ‘The 
Bill for gradually Abolithing the Slave 
trade pafied the Commons, but was loft 
in the Lords, by the fecond reading being 
poftponed for three months. Its advo- 
cates were the Bifhop of St. Afaph, Lord 
Grenville, and Earl Stanhope. Seldom 
have fpeeches been fo eloquent as thofe 
delivered on this occafion by the peers we 
have mentioned. An Act was pafled to 
increafe the incomes cf the clergy of the 
city of London. It created much dif 
cuffion; the only objection, hcwever, 
being, that it was a violation of the prin- 
ciples on which Englith legiflati at has 
hee accuftomed to govern Private pro- 
perty. It was admitted, that decency 
required. that the ee in quefiion 
fhould be increaf'd 5 but contended, tiat 
this fhou'd be done at the expence of the 
public, and not by =e additional affeff- 
ment on the houfes of ihe parifhioners, 
bought on the public faich, that their at- 
Seflment for the maintenance of the cler- 
State of Piblié Affairs in July, i S04. 
71 
eyman was immutable. A Bill for regu- 
lating the Exportation of ,Corn pafled the 
Commons, and afterwards the Lords, 
wih amendments; but was thrown out 
of the Commons, on being returned for 
their confent to the amendments, fome 
of thoie being fuppofed to infringe the 
privileges of the Lower Houle. A new 
bill, to the fame effect, was then brought 
Into the Commons, where it is in pro- 
preis. The exprefs object of the bill is, 
to prevent the difcouragement of the 
growing of cora in this country, by pre- 
venting the too great reduction of its 
price in times of abundance ; exportation 
being allowed by the bill, when wheat 
fhall be at or under 48s. per quarter, rye 
S28. pen 32. and oats 16s. In both 
houles, the principle of Jegiflative inter. 
ference in the corm trace, was ftrongly 
oppofed by fome, and its policy quettion. 
ed by others, The Bifhop of St’ Afapiy 
faid, that he was one of thofe who began 
to fufpect, that Icgiflation had been toa 
much emploved on the fubjr&t of the corn 
trade. The quefion is not only one of 
the moft curious and dificult that can be 
Imagined, bot is cf the utmof moment 3 
and men of leifure and talent could fcarce- 
ly be better employed than in the com- 
pleie inveftigation of this fubjeét, which, 
by the way, is fiil very litile underftood 
even in this great commercial nation. A 
bill for relieving certain infolvent debtors, 
has pafled the Commons, and proceeded 
to tre third meeting in the Lords. This 
alio is a fubjeét on which men of good 
information and ‘perfeét candour have 
widely difered. The prefent bill includes 
all debtors who are in prifon for fums not 
exceeding 1soo]. and were in prifon be- 
fore the xft of fanuary, 1804. 
By a vote of the Committee of Sup- 
plies, 60,0col. Pen annum, has been add- 
ed to the Civil L:ff. 
The repoyt of the committee on the 
Middlefex eleGion was, that Sir Francis 
Burdett ae not duly elected, and that 
Mr, Mainwgri-g was SUC Bites to fit, 
by the oper: Ation of the” Treating A& A 
new election has commenced, Sir Francis 
Burdett and George Boulton Mainwar- 
ing (icon of Mr. Mainwaring) being the 
candidates. The poil opened on the 23d 
ef July; and already the friends of the 
two parties threaten to contend the mat- 
ter with all the violence cf the former 
election. 
FRANCE. 
It May perhaps he ftated wih Ae. 
‘that the afflumption of the title of Ea- 
peror by Bonaparte, has excited no fur. 
prifs in Europe ; and certainly it is true, 
Santa 
