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press the satisfaction with which he has observed the proofs you have given in the "course of the present session of your constant regard for the honour of his Crown, " and the interests of his dominions; and "particularly the measures which you have adopted for strengthening his Majesty's "hзnds at this important conjuncture, by "the augmentation of the disposable military force of the kingdom.-GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, -His Majesty has directed us particularly to "thank you in his Majesty's name, for the " zeal and liberality with which you have granted the large supplies which the necessity of the public service has required. "MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,-His Majesty has not yet been enabled to commu

nicate to you the result of the negotiations "in which he is engaged with powers on "the Continent; but you may rest assured "that no step will be omitted on his Majesty's part, for promoting such a concert as may afford the best prospect of restoring "general and permanent tranquillity; or may, if necessary, furnish the means of "repelling with vigour the continued en"croachments on the part of the French

government, which threaten, every day more and more, the liberty and indepen"dence of all the nations of Europe."

On this speech there is nothing to say, unless one were inclined to make an observation or two upon "the eugmentation of the "disposable force of the kingdom;" but, it is not worth while. It will have been observed upon encugh by every intelligent man before this sheet comes from the press.

PARTIES. Since the publication of the preceding number of the Register, the following changes have taken place in the ministry. Lord Sidmouth, as President of the Conncil, and the Earl of Buckinghamshire, as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, have resigned their offices, which have been filled, the former by Lord Camden, and the latter by Lord Harrow by. (Lord Harrowby again!) Lord Castlereagh has succeeded Lord Camden as Secretary of State for the War Department, and still holds his office of President of the Board of Control. Thus are the Addingtons again separated from Mr. Pitt, and, as far as it has hitherto appeared, the separation has, on the part of the former, proceeded from motives which must be approved of by every honest man, of whatever party he may be. The Pitt faction, however, who have always the poison of asps under their lips, ascribe the rupture to a desire on the part of Lord Sidmouth to domincer over Mr. Pitt; and, indeed, we

should not, after what we have seen, be too hasty in determining what were the motives which did in reality produce the resignation of the Addingtons. Let us, therefore, for the present, content ourselves with carefully perusing and patting upon record, according to our hitherto useful custom, the allegations of the parties respectively. The TIMES began, on the 6th instant, by stating the grounds of Lord Sidmouth's resignation in the following words. "This important

" event has caused a considerable sensation "in the public mind, which is not likely "to diminish upon reflection, or a nearer "investigation of the circumstances which "have led to it. They are before the country at large-self-evident, oppressed or cb"scured by no ministerial mystery or poli "tical convenience. Lord Sidmouth would 66 not consent to the resolution which so unfortunately has been formed by certain individuals, to subtract a great delin"quent from the laws of his country. His Lordship would not lend the sanction of "his name and authority to the disastrous "scheme for diverting the course of public justice, and frustrating the prayer of the petitions of so many great provinces and "cities. He would not concur in the unprecedented measure of rescinding, upon

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a four-and-twenty hour's notice, the so"lemn vote of almost the fullest assembly "of the Commons in the memory of man, "in a house, whoset tal members scarcely "exceeded the amount of the minority on "that memorable decision. In a word, he found it incompatible with his feelings and "his duty with what he owed to his own

honour and the service of his Soverign "and his country-to remain any longer a part of an administration, some of whose "members have appeared to make it thir

chif object, and occupation (in this extraordinary case), wherever they have not "ben restrained by his authority, to defeal "the ends of public justice, and elude the peti"tions of the people! Upon the immediate

consequences of this important change, we "shall hazard no conjecture. We do not, "however, believe, that the place of his "lordship and his friends can be supplied

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"the resignation by Lord Sidmouth of his "office of President of the Council. We "should violate the principles which we "have always professed, and upon which we have always acted, if we were to express any regret upon this occasion."We are fully sensible of the necessity of a strong and efficient administration at "this juncture; but we are convinced "that administration will lose nothing in "point of strength-certainly nothing in point of vigour and efficiency by the resignation of the noble lord. Indeed "the wavering, undecided, hollow support which the noble lord and his friends "have given to administration, has tend"ed much more to weaken than to strength"en it. It has been stated, for purposes "too obvious to be mistaken, that the "conduct of Lord Sidmouth and those who "act with him on the business of Lord "Melville was the sole cause of the differences subsisting between Mr. Pitt "and his lordship; to this assertion we can give the most decided contradiction, although it certainly is true that their con"duct in bringing forward a motion for a "criminal prosecution, not only without any previous concert with ministers, but even without the slightest intimation of any such intention, may have accelerated the event which has just taken place. Whether this resignation will lead to any "accession of strength to administration "FROM ANY OTHER QUARTER, we "cannot at present take upon ourselves to "decide; but it certainly will REMOVE ONE

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"

GREAT OBSTACLE to such an union as "that to which we allude."--Will it, think you? But of that more by-and-by.

-On the 10th instant the SUN returned to the subject, and made the following statement:" Lord Sidmouth's pretext is, "that his conscience will not permit him to

support an impeachment, but he must "have a criminal prosecution! Can this be "believed? Can the mode of trial be a "matter of conscience? No, no. Had the proposition supported by Mr. Pitt been for prosecution, impeachment, no doubt, "would have been in the eyes of the Adingtons. Lard Sidmouth's conduct, in short, can be traced to nothing but a "love of power, unaccompanied by great "or generous feelings."This brought the following re-statement from the TIMES of the 12th instant, to which re-statement I beg the reader's particular attention: "we re-state, therefore, that Lord Sidmouth, "and his friends, have resigned their high "situations, because they had not sufficient

tice of England.→ We re-state, that "Lord Sidmouth has resigned upon the purest and broadest public principle that ever a great statesmail, or a zealous worshipper of the constitution, took for his "rallying point; and we affirm, that every "virtuous Englishman will rally round his "Lordship, as the SOLE and central point from which we can combat that prodigality and public corruption which we do "not possess the means to support."This zeal may be excused; but, as long as the OPPOSITION shall continue to act upon the principles, which have distinguished their conduct during the discussions relative to Lord Melville, this writer can hardly suppose, that the Addington party will be the sole rallying point of the people against the abettors of corruption; for the people will not easily forget, on which side the Addingtons voted on the all-important 8th of April. I am, however, ready to allow, that, if it shall finally appear, as at present there is every reason to hope and to believe that it will appear, that the Addingtons have resigned upon the honourable ground above stated by their friends; if this shall finally appear, I shall be the first to allow, that they have regained the ground which they lost on the 8th of April, and that they have made tan effort of public virtue that entitles them o a share in the confidence of their king and the people. But, if they had remained in the Pitt ministry, neither their professions, nor their votes upon particular occasions, would, or ought, to have availed them any thing; which observation will equally well apply, if they should, cither now or at any future tine, rejoin Mr. Pitt; for, as Mr. Fox observed in the debate of the 6th of May, "the country is "seriously agitated, and it neither can nor "will place confidence in those who have "exerted themselves so much to screen

VOL. VIII. No. 3.]

[PRICE 1OD.

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SUMMARY OF POLITICS. ATHOL CLAIM. (continued from p. 52.) The Reports, and other printed documents, appertaining to this subject make a folio volume of no small bulk. The greater part of these must be analysed, in order to the presenting a full view of the conduct of those, through whose means the grant has been recently made to the Duke of Athol. Such a view I shall, in the course of a few weeks, endeavour to present. At present it is my intention merely to lay before my readers, the Protest entered upon the Journals of the House of Lords; accompanied with a few remarks, copied chiefly from the Morning Chronicle. The following is a copy of the Protest." DISSENTIENT. 1st, be"cause the bill in question appears to be grounded on the following recitals, which "have not been supported by evidence.———— "The preamble recites that the Isle of Man "was granted in Sovereignty by King Henry the 4th, and that the Sovereign rights continued until the 5th year of his present Majesty; and it further recites, "that the Act of the 12th of George the "First, chap. 28, provided for the purchase "of these Sovereign rights. But this

*Original of the Motto. Guillaume Premier, Roi de Prusse, ne pardonna、jamais, sur l'article de ses finances, ni négligence ni infidélité. Un de ses receveurs, établi à Konigsberg, ayant, dans sa caisse, wne somme considérable, sans destination ni emploi actuel, en tira dix mille écus, dont il avoit besion pour ses affaires personnelles ; il remplaça cet argent par un billet, où il déclaroit le devoir, et annonçoit qu'il le remplaceroit dans un délai très-court. Cet homme fort, estimé d'ailleurs, étoit riche en biens fonds. Guillaume arrive à l'improviste dans cette capitale, visite cette caisse dans le jour, voit le billet, constate le vide, et falt pendre le receveur comme dépositaire inidele.THIEBAULT: Mes souvenirs de vingt ans à Berlin. Tom. II. page 11.

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grant to Sir John Stanley, and the said "Act do not in point of fact convey, or "confirm, or provide for the purchase of "Sovereign rights in the Isle of Man; and "it was not denied in the course of debate "that the legislature of England had unin

terruptedly legislated for internal pur

poses within the said Island.2d. The "preamble further recites, that by a certain "deed of restriction duly executed by Char

lotte, Duchess Dowager of Athol, John, "Duke of Athol, became entitled to the " rights reserved to his family in the Isle of "Man, and hath ever since continued to "enjoy the same. But this deed when pro"duced in evidence, purports only to in"tend to convey the rents, profits, and "duties of every kind payable now forth "and from the Isle of Man;' and does not

convey any of the other rights reserved: "and it appears from evidence that the "Duchess Dowager of Athol was Lady of "the Island at the time of passing the Act of "the 5th year of his present Majesty, and "has continued to exercise part of the "rights reserved to her by that law ever "since the Act of Restriction, 1774."3d. The preamble further recites, that "there were circumstances attending the

resignation of these rights, which make it

just and reasonable that a further compen"sation should be given, and that the du"ties of customs of the Island belonged to "the family of the Duke of Athol, and that

"

a compensation should be given for them "to be regulated by their produce. But or "these circumstances no evidence was "given, nor was it proved to us that the du"ties in question did so belong, nor was any reason whatsoever urged in the de"bate to induce us to think that the com

pensation (if any was to be made) should "be regulated by their produce.--2dly. "Because the reports made at various times "down to the present moment, by the law "officers of the Crown, on the subject of "the claim for further compensation in this C

reader to suspend his judgment till next week; and, then, I trust, I shall be able to show, in a pretty striking light, that it was not in mere car and catamaran projects, that Mr. Fitt and Lord Melville were engaged last summer, The reader will see, too, something to convince him, that Lord Auckland's attention to the financial interests of the nation does not make him forget his own interests. In short, a scene very striking, and deeply interesting to the people will be exhibited; and, after the exhibition, let those who are still willing to support Mr. Pitt grumble as long as they please about taxes; let them groan; the only subject for sorrow will be, that he does not actually squeeze them to death.

FINANCE RESOLUTIONS.- -On Thursday last, the 12th instant, Mr. Johnstone brought forward his resolutions on the subject of finance.The reader will recollect, that Mr. Tierney used annually to submit a string of these resolutions to the House; which resolutions it was the custom for the minister to supplant by a string of his own, giving a representation more favourable of the reBources of the country. Both strings were annually entered in the votes of the House, and thus were sent on their journey to posterity, bearing with them that precious deposit, the fame of their respective authors! Mr. Johnstone, captivated, apparently, with this easy way of securing immortality, seized upon the office last year, Mr. Tierney having filled himself and dropped off the year before. There was, however, something curious, if not bordering upon the ridiculous, in the bringing forward of the resolutions this year. Notice of Mr. Johnstone's intention was given about six weeks ago; and, it will be recollected, (see Vol. VII. p. 960) that Mr. Pitt, in the debate upon Mr. Grey's motion, intimated, that when the resolutions should be brought forward, he should take an opportunity of showing how flourishing the state of the public resources were. The actual production of the resolutions was postponed from time to time, until the day above-mentioned, when Mr. Johnstone rising, with perfect seriousness, introduced them with the observation, that, as he understood no very material objection would be made to them, he should not detain the House by any exposition of either the principles or the detail, upon which he had proceeded in the framing of them; an observation the necessity of which was by no means apparent, seeing that, of the six hundred and fifty-eight members, there were only nine, including the Speaker, to listen to him! Mr. Pitt, not thinking proper to

act himself before such an audience, set up Mr. Huskisson (just as the reader has frequently seen, upon occasions not very dissimilar, out of doors), while the great man himself sat by, examined the documents, and gave his prescriptions.There was little of prescription to give, however; for, Mr. Johnstone and Mr. Huskisson appeared to have come to a previous understanding; the matter was, therefore, very speedily settled; the Speaker put the question upon each resolution; the "unanimity," as in the Critic," was wonderful." The AYES had it every time, without a single dissenting voice; and thus closed the session as to the subject of finance. We, however, who have another long and dreary year of taxes to toil through, may, and, doubtless, we shall, as opportunity serves, return to this important subject; and, I think, we shall discover, that the resolutions of Mr. Johnstone, even with the great Mr. Huskisson's emendations, are very little calculated to enable us to judge of the real state of our financial concerns, though, if intended to amuse the city vulgar, they may not prove entirely useless.I entertain great respect for Mr. Johnstone. On several occasions he has eminently distinguished himself as a member of parliament, mindful of his great duty, a scrupulous watchfulness over the pecuniary interests of the people; and, I remember with particular satisfaction, his conduct during the debate upon Mr. Creevy's motion relative to Mr. Fordyce, which Mr. Fordyce has, by-the-bye, too long escaped the notice of my readers. But, in proportion as I respect Mr. Johnstone's talents and character, I lament, and must lament, to see him a sort of co-operator with Mr. Huskisson in any thing, and especially in the framing and bringing forward of resolutions, such as those of which I have been speaking.

SWEDEN AND PRUSSIA.-The backwardness which, all at once, became apparent, in the conduct of Sweden, about five months ago, the reader will now find pretty satisfactorily accounted for, in the State Paper, inserted in the foregoing sheet, p. 47. Sweden would have taken our money; but, Prussia would not let her Never was there a clearer or a shorter case!. The vigour of Lord Harrowby and Mr. Pitt had, we now see, well nigh succeeded in rouzing the gallant young monarch to the acceptance of a subsidy, before, as it is now evident, there was the least reason to hope, that it would be of any use to us, or to any body else. Lord Harrowby is now come back to us again; not in the same office, it is true;