Australia.--We understand the celebrated navigator Captain Parry has been appointed the Director of the Australian Agricultural Company. He proceeds to that colony immediately ; the salary is stated to be very handsome.


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House of Commons.--June 4

Sir J. Mackintosh  presented a petition from Mr Charles Buck, complaining that managers of theatres were allowed to perform dramatic pieces without the knowledge or leave of the writer, and without any profit to him. The hon. member said that Lord Byron and Mr Millman had made similar complaints, and that every person who had given that subject consideration admitted that literary property was not sufficiently protected in this country, and that the decline of dramatic writing was to be attributed to the state of the law.

Mr G. Lamb  thought it a very serious grievance that if a man wrote a tragedy it might be taken by any manager, and performed on the stage, and the writer brought to the miserable condition of a damned  author nolens volenns. ( A laugh. ) The decline of dramatic writing in this country was to be ascribed to the unprofitable nature of that description of writing, as compared with other branches of literature ; and it would be very desirable if a dramatic author had power to sell his play like any other description of property, and that no manager should perform it without paying the writer, which was the system in France.

The petition was ordered to be printed.

Birmingham Petition.

Mr Brougham  rose to present a petition from a very respectable body. It had been agreed to at a numerous meeting of manufacturers, artisans, and other inhabitants of Birmingham, and was signed by 8000 persons without solicitation. they contended that the distress which now prevailed, not only had reference to that poorer classes of society, but spread itself over the whole system of society. This distress the petitioners ascribed to the tampering that had taken place with the currency. Their opinion was, that too much stress was laid upon the panic which had taken place in 1825 ; for, though it was true that a great number of failures had taken place among the bankers, yet it was no less true, that of about 70 bankers who had failed, as many as 80[?] had subsequently paid 20s in the pound. If such were the case he was very glad to hear it. The opinion of the petitioners rather was, that the present distress arose from the speculations and over-trading which had taken place ; and that such might have been the case topitally[?], there could be no manner of doubt, That a great deal of the distress of the nation had arisen from the depreciation of the currency, by which people were now paying taxes at a rate that had never been intended when they were originally imposed, was extremely likely ; but whether it operated to the extent that the petitioners described was another question. In the year 1819 he had been one of those who had resisted the imposition of new taxes, because he thought that that was the very worst time that Ministers could have chosen for such an object. His opinion, however, had been over-ruled, and the taxes had been increased. That the effect of this must be to cripple the industry of the country no man could doubt ; and what he wished was to see a remedy for t ; but the misfortune was, that after making every possible retrenchment--by reducing salaries, and dealing in the best possible way with all the payments which the nation had to make--the Dead Weight would still remain round the neck of the country, and press it down to the effectual injury of its best interests. How were they to get over the 800 millions of debt, and the 30 or 40 millions of interest annually payable thereon? In the latter part of the petition he entirely agreed, and hoped that every thing would be done to give the people as great relief from the pressure of the taxes as might be consistent with a due regard to the public credit, and the service of the State ; and so far from treating this remedy lightly, the more he thought that the petitioners were wrong in their observations on the tampering of the currency, the more he was inclined to listen to that part of the petition which appeared to him to be founded on truth.

Mr Bennett  was of opinion that the forced restoration of a metallic currency was one of the principal causes of the present distress. The taxes were now paid in money, and it now required twice the produce to pay them which it did before the year 1819. That was nothing less than a robbery, but how it was to be remedied he really was at a loss to know. He would never break faith with the public creditor, and the only means to pay off our public debt would be to impose an income tax. If the public debt were once removed, then free trade could take place in every branch of trade, but not till then. Such was the opinion of his late friend, Mr Ricardo, and sooner or later he thought some such measure would be resorted to.

Mr Alderman Waitham  observed that it was strange that while the public distress was admitted to be extreme, no effort was made to reduce the public expenditure. He was ready to prove that the export trade of the country had fallen off to the amount of from nearly nine to thirteen millions, although he knew that in saying this he was encountering serious adversaries. He did not under-rate our export trade ; it was valuable but for a period of thirty-one years it had fallen off at the rate of six millions per annum ; and this could be shewn from Parliamentary documents. With respect to the petition now before the house, he mainly agreed with its statements, while at the same time he could never consent to any thing like a breach of faith with the public creditor.

Mr W. Whitmore  heard with astonishment that our foreign trade had greatly diminished, the reverse being so notoriously the fact. Since 1814 there was certainly a fall in the value of our manufactures, but so there was in the raw material, and the vast increase of machinery should also be taken into account. It was said that our exports had declined, but facts would prove decidedly the reverse. From 1790 to 1799, the exports were L17,000,000 ; from 1800 to 1809, L,26,000,000; from 1810 to 1819, L36,000,000 ; from 1821 to 1826, L45,000,000 ; in 1827, L51,000,000 ; and in 1828 the amounts of exports rose to L52,000,000--So much for the alleged decrease of our export trade, as stated by the worthy Alderman, ( hear, hear, hear. ) In 1819[?] the currency was in the greatest state of depreciation ; but he begged pardon for having said so much, and he was induced to offer a word in order to counteract the danger which might arise if the statements of the worthy Alderman remained unanswered.

Mr Sec. Peel  observed, that, whenever any change, however calculated to be ultimately beneficial, was made in the system of our currency, it must be attended in the first instance with considerable inconveniences. The more he considered the subject, the more was he convinced that the best interests of the nation required that we should strictly adhere to the law of our currency now established. ( Hear, hear. ) He hoped he should never see the time when the restrictions on cash payments should be renewed. When, however, the petitioners declared it to be expedient to increase the amount of our currency by an issue of paper, he would ask them what they would, in that case, do with the Exchanges? If the Exchanges fell, the gold would go out of the country. What would they do? They must renew the restriction on cash payments by the Bank. It was not any change in the value of the currency, but the prosperity of Manchester that had occasioned the depression in Spitalfields. In 1820, the number of factories in Manchester were fifty-four, and they were assessed at the annual value of L16,816 ; in 1823 they were 56, assessed at L18,293 ; in 1826, when the small notes bill passed, the numbers were 72, assessed at L24,034 ; in 1828, the year before the small notes bill took effect, the numbers were 73, and they were assessed at L25,245. The hon. gentleman opposite had said that no fresh capital had been employed in this trade, but that persons would work at a loss rather than let their machines stand idle. But if this were the case, it would not account for the erection of 12 new factories, the establishment of which was irreconcileable with the idea of general stagnation. With respect to the silk trade in Manchester, in 1823 there were 2500 looms, and in 1828 there were 8000 ; and there were between 3 and 4000 looms working manufactured articles of silk mixed with cotton. He had had a letter from Manchester, dated 1st of June, upon which he could rely, and it stated that all the silk weavers were, or might be, in active emply. For the last ten years at Manchester, machinery had improved in powers of production in the ratio of 10 per cent, per annum. Few persons had attributed enough to the importation of labourers from Ireland. A greater number of Irish labourers in the manufacturing districts were out of emply than people could imagine, and the Magistrates relieved them rather than pass them to their parishes, reflecting that as they had contributed to the prosperity ot the places, they had a right to relief when in distress. Where the passage was so low, and this country possessed the advantage of a legal provision for the poor, it was impossible to check the influx of Irish labourers, and this fact would suggest important alterations in the state of the law. ( Hear, hear. ) He felt convinced that any alterations with respect to the values of the currency would be attended with the greatest evils to every class.

Mr  W. Horton  observed, that some honourable gentleman considered the distress of our artisans and manufacturers to arise from the state of the currency ; but he (Mr Horton) was at a loss to see how the redundant labour at Shipley could have been affected by the change of the currency. Another class were the antipodes of these--they imputed our distress to the corn laws. But it was idle to talk of altering the corn laws; we should look to practical remedies. As long as a redundancy of labour existed in England, which was aggravated by the condition of the Irish, who flocked to England, and operated a still further prejudice to the labouring class of this country, the distress would continue. The remedy which he proposed for the evil he had pointed out was emigration, in the manner proposed in the report of a committee of which he had the honour to be the chairman, by parishes advancing a sum of money to locate pauper labourers in our North American colonies. The right hon. gentleman then read opinions in approbation of his plan, from Mr Tooke, Mr Malthus, Colonel Torrens, and others, and observed that he had the opinion of the late Mr Ricardo to the same effect, in a lette which had been published. He then entered into a calculation, to show the saving to parishes by this plan, and he challenged any member of the house the show the fallacy of the calculations.--There was, however, an answer so easy, that it was constantly made--" The vacuum would be filled up immediately." This was a delicate subject to touch upon, for he knew not how the vacuum could be filled up but by the introduction of young gentlemen and ladies. ( A laugh.) But was it supposed that fifty labourers would be replaced immediately by fifty children? Or did these objectors suppose that labourers would be brought from Russia or elsewhere ? The right honourable gentleman then adverted to the remarks in Mr Sadler's work, wherein it was stated that is appeared from the official documents that the mortality amongst the emigrants to North America had been in the unprecedented proportion of 4 in 14, whereas, in Wales, the proportion was 1 in 69, and in England, 1 in 57. This, he would assert, was an incorrect statement. So far from the proportion being 1 in 14, it was only 1 in 40, the same proportion which existed in Carlisle, the healthiest place in England. The emigrants, it should be recollected, carried out children, and the mortality amongst children was in the proportion of 1 in 12, and in London much greater ; for it had been ascertained that out of 1,000 infants amongst the poor, only 542 survived the period of nursing. The right hon. gentleman concluded with reading his last resolution--" That it is expedient that such measures should be adopted in the next Session of Parliament as may furnish the most safe and effectual means of producing the desird improvement, by a judicious application of both these principles, and at the same time under conditions which will prevent the probability of a recurrence of similar evils, and also effect a material saving of the national income, instead of producing an increased charge thereon."

Mr Huskisson  contended that colonization ought to be encouraged. Had it not been for emigration, this country could never have reached its present state of importance and prosperity, nor would our language have been extended to the United States, and been adopted in more distant countries. If there were one circumstance more striking than another, it was the prodigious increase of consumption, a proof of the growing wealth and resources of the country. In the year 1814, the exchange in trade was against us ; now it was in our favour. This country would carry on its great affairs with as small a portion of metallic currency as possible, but let them guard against a system which had led to depreciation of the currency, and the panic which was felt in 1825. He had heard somewhere a metaphor respecting paper currency. Like a skyrocket, it rose with splendour, but lost its brightness, and when its fire was extinguished it fell in darkness, like the shaft of the rocket, upon the heads of those who had raised it.

Mr Secretary Peel  said, in consequence of the course of policy which he had deemed it advisable to adopt in the previous Session, a series of unfounded calumnies had been levelled at him, which, however, he had despised too much to condescend to notice. But there was one which, as it reflected on his public and official character, he would, with permission of the house, allude to on that occasion. The report to which he alluded was, that he had used his influence as Secretary of State to procure an enormous grant of land for a relative of his. ( Hear, hear, hear. ) In consequence of seeing this report in the public newspapers, he had requested his right honourable friend to move in that house, for the production of certain papers calculted to explain the whole matter. Those papers had in consequence been produced, and were now printed ; he trusted, however, that the house would excuse him for again alluding to the subject. ( Hear, hear, hear. ) He hoped that the consequence of those papers being printed would have been, that some member would have asked some questions on the subject ; but though this was not the case, he had received a communication which made him think that some one out of doors had been imposed upon by the calumny, though no member of that house had been so deceived, ( cheering.) He begged in the first place, to state most distinctly that he had procured no grant of land for any brother of his, ( hear ) A gentleman, whose name was the same as his, and who was his second cousin, had had a grant made him by his right hon. friend ; but in that grant he begged to state to the house, upon his word of honour, as a gentleman, he had had no participation whatever, ( hear.) With respect to the settlement on the Swan River, he was ashamed to say that he had neither heard nor knew of it, till he received a letter from his cousin, announcing to him that he had abandoned the idea of going to New South Wales ; and that from the circumstances of Mr Twiss informing him that government would be disposed to afford assistance to any settlers going to the Swan River, he and three other gentlemen had been induced to send in a proposal to that effect. With respect to the other calumnies which had been promulgated against him, they rather went to private matters, and he had therefore not condescended to notice them ; but as this one had reference to the public department in which he officiated, he had thought it so far a public concern, as to venture to ask the attention of the house while he trespassed on it to disclaim any participation in the grant that had been made, ( hear..

Sir Geo. Murray--The house would probably think, after the statement of his right honourable friend, that it would be unnecessary for him to rise to address them, ( hear.) He was satisfied that the house knew that his right hon. friend was incapable of proposing anything that would come under the designation of what was vulgarly called a job, ( hear.)

Adjournment.

Mr Secretary Peel  gave notice that he should tomorrow move the adjournment of the house to that day week. The right hon. gentleman at the same time presented a petition from the Apothecaries Company of London, in favour, as we understood, of the bill regarding dissection.

Mr Wilmot Horton  rose to propose the resolutions of wich he had given notic relative to the state of the labouring poor.

The firt resolution having been put from the chair,

The Chancellor  of the Exchequer  moved as an amendment that the order of the day be now read.

Mr Bennett  opposed the resolutions.

The amendement was agreed to without a division.

Mr Labouchere  postponed until to-morrow his motion respecting Canada.

Slave Trade.

Mr Otway Cave  moved the following resolutions:

"Resolved, 1st. That no human legislature has any lawful power to abridge or destroy the natural rights of life and liberty, unless the owner shall himself commit some criminal act that amounts to a forfeiture.

"2d, That although neither the government nor the legislature of the county have arrogated to themselves the power of destroying the natural rights of innocent British subjects, or of delegating any such power to other authorities, it is a notorious fact, that in many British Colonies lying remote from the immediate observation of the Government, innocent British born subjects are, from the time of their birth, robbed of their natural rights, and converted into slaves.

"3. That it is the especial duty of this House, as the Representatives of the people, to take effectual measures for protecting all British subjects that shall be born henceforward in the West Indian Colonies, from similar violations of their natural, inherent, and paramount rights as human beings."

The motion being seconded by Mr Lumley,

Mr W. Smith  said, he could not give his support to these resolutions, because they were connected with a question of too much importance to be agitated in such a manner, and at such a period of the Session.

Mr Huskisson  was of opinion that resolutions of such a description as those brought forward by the hon. member, ought to be met by a direct negative.

Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. The resolutions were declared to be negatived without a division.

The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the house adjourned at half-past one o'clock.


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Swan River.--The fine ship Gilmore, purchased by Mr T. Peel, brother to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, proceeded down the river on Saturday, on her voyage to Swan River. The Gilmore quitted the St Catherine Docks in the course of Friday, having on board an excellent assortment of every requisite which may be required to form the new settlement. Mr Thomas Peel has had the Gilmore, which is of 500 tons burthen, under his own inspection, as well as the selection of the agricultural and other implements to convey to the Swan River. There were many passengers on board. Mr Peel and his family, it is understood will join the vessel at Plymouth. In the vessel there are also going out other settlers. The Hooghly, another ship of 500 tons burthen, chartered by the same individual, is not yet quite ready for her voyage. Among the valuables sent out to Swan River are some fine race-horses, intended for breeding in the settlement, from whence India will be supplied, should the settlement answer.--Sunday Times.


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London, Saturday,  August 15, 1829

The King.--We are happy to learn from a private source of unquestionable authenticity, that the King has seldom, if ever, in his whole life, enjoyed better health than at the present moment. From the same quarter we have received a confirmation of what we mentioned some time back, that according to the present arrangements of the Court, it is certainly his Majesty's intetion to visit Brighton before the expiration of the year.--Brighton Gazette.

The Revenne.--Ever since the beginning of the quarter, symptoms of progressive improvement have manifested themselves in the revenue. Of late they have assumed a more decided and promising character, and if the seven weeks that remain prove as productive as the first month has been, not only will thre be no falling off at the close, but a considerable increase may confidently be anticipated. We understand that the general return of duties paid at Custom-house in the port of London, for the month o July last, amounts to one million one hundred and ten thousand pounds. The returns from the out-ports have not all yet been received, but, on a fair calculation, it is supposed that they will amount to above one million sterling.--Courier.

It is certainly true that Laurent made an offer of L8000 a year for Covent Garden ; but when asked to put his offer into writing, he withdrew, and nothing more has been heard of it.--Court Journal.

The new musical entertainment forthcoming at the English Opera House, to be called The Spring Lock, is founded upon one of the fictions of an early Italian novelist (Lasca), the incidents of which almost include the romatic and eventful interest of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Peake is the accredited author--Keeley is to be the hero, and Wood the principal vocalist ; G. H. Rodwell is the composer.

It is stated in a recent French paper, that during the last eight months not fewer than twenty political and literary journals have been started in the French provinces.

It is stated in a French newspaper than an inhabitant of Lyon grafted upon the same stem red and white grapes, and peaches, and apricots, which all flowered at the same time, and gave ripe fruit with a few days of each other.

A carriage, containing 60 persons, was this day seen to traverse Paris. It was drawn by six horses, merely by way of trial. This carriage and several similat ones are building in the square of St Salpier. They are to run between Paris and Lyons.--Paris Paper.

Steam Navigation.--Information has reached the India House, that the East India Company's steamvessel Enterprise will leave Bombay on the 15th of November next, for Suez, where she may be expected to arrive early in December. Another steam-vessel is to leave Bombay for the same destination in January next. A communication by steam between this country and the Mediterrarean has already been opened, and might, we suppose, be easily extended to Egpyt. The expense of such a speculation would probably be amply compensated by the profit of conveying by so desirable a route passengers to and from the East Indies.

His Majesy the King of Prussia has honoured Mr by presenting him with a splendid gold snuffbox, as a token of his Majesty's approbation of Belshazzar's Feast." the "Dalage."&c. Swan River.--That beautiful ship, the Gilmour, sailed on Monday evening for the Swan River. She has upwards of 200 passengers on board, the whole of whom are highly respectable, and many of them are in opulent circumstances. When Mr Peel came alongside (accompanied by Mr Soltau), just before the ship got under weigh, the passengers and crew gave him three cheers, and his reception altogether was of the most gratifying description. The property on board the Gilmore alone amounts to the more than L60,000. We understand also, that the Minstrel will call at this port in about a fortnight to take out other settlers on account of Mr Peel. We are informed that Government have increased Mr Peel's grant of land from 350,000 to 1,000,000 acres.--Plymouth Journal.

Gurney's Steam Carriage.--Yesterday afternoon Mr Gurney's steam carriage was exhibited, at the request of the Duke of Wellington, in the Houslow Barrack yard, before his Grave, the Ladies Percy, Dance, and Murray ; Lords Fitzroy Somerset, Rosslyn, and Thomas Cecil ; Lieut. General Sir W. Gordon, QuarterMaster General ; Sir George Murray, Sir Charles Dance, and a large number of military and scientific gentlemen. His Grace, Sir W. Gordon, the Ladies Percy, &c. had a carriage attacked, and rode round the yard with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction. Afterwards a waggon was fastened to the steam carriage containing 27 soldiers besides Mr Gurney and two or three men on the engine, and though the road was very disadvantageous, being a rough loose sand and gravel, it drew them round without the least diminuition of its speed, between nine and ten miles an hour. In these experiments Mr Gurney applied his steam generally but to one wheel in order to give the company full proof of the power and practicability of the invention. Having satisfied them as to this, and as to its manageability, by a variety of involutions and evolutions, he gave them a specimen of its speed, and drove seven or eight times round at the rate of 16 or 17 miles an hour. It is difficult to say whether the company was more pleased or surprised at these unequivocal proofs of Mr Gurney's success. The Duke of Wellington observed that it was scarcely possible to calculate the benefits we should derive from the introduction of such an invention as this.

The French papers of Tuesday state that the Emperor Nicholas was preparing to make a new levy at the rate of 4 upon every 500 male individuals, which would give about 160,000 fresh soldiers. He is said, however, to have deferred promulgating the ukase until he should have ascertained that the Porte had definitely rejected the terms of peace which he had proposed. On the other hand, we are told that the Sultan has rejected those terms, and that, notwithstanding the successes gained by the Russians, he was resolved to run all the chances of a desperate struggle rather than submit to conditions which he deemed insulting.

The English Bench.--There are two vacancies at present on the judicial Bench ;--one occasioned by the death of Mr Baron Hullock ; the other by the more recent decease of Mr Charles Warren, Chief Justice of Chester, who expired at his house in Bedford Square, on Wednesday afternoon, in the 66th year of his age. Mr Campbell is spoken of as the successor of the former ; and the choise, we supposem will be generally deemed to be a proper one. With respect to the Chief Justiceship of Chester, an evening paer, the Sun, very properly recalls to public recollection the fact, that "the Commissioners on the Common Law had recommended in their report, the abolition of the Welsh judgeships altogether;" and adds an opinion, in which we perfectly coincide, tht " the present seems a fair opportunity for carrying the recommendation into effect." Indeed, in our mind, every opportunity is a fair one for reducing public expences, when public burdens are oppressive.

Platina Coin.--We have seen a specimen of the new Russian platina coinage. The coin is about the size of a shilling, but heavier than a sovereign, and of three roubles value. On one side are the Russian eagle and imperial arms; on the other the value of the coin, and date--Globe.

Ugly Wives Fittest for Poets.--The spouses of the living British poets are well known to be among the plainest of the sect, as Mr Slinslop  would say.--is wedded to the head of a gorgon, ---- is not much better off, ---- has eloped from his mate. We might run through the whole catalogue, without discovering a handsome woman, yet none have exceleed these writers in descriptions of female beauty. The truth is, that the contemplation of a bottle or peaked nose, a wide mouth, goggle eyes, and a spare body, causes an author to set out with more enthusiasm in search of the ideal of womanly perfections, and affords the widest scope to the imagination. Nothing impedes the fancy more domestic intercourse with a celestial shape and divine face ; in which case a fatal uxoriousness supersedes the poet's diligence, and he ceases impotently to describe what he can well enjoy. Milton's Eve was not copied from Mrs Milton grilling his dinner at the kitchen fire--but from some unattainable damsel of his fancy. Plurality of women is only allowed to a poet--one lawful, plain, household wife--and as many airy mistresses as he can embody.


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Swan River.--The ship Warrior, Stone, commander, bound to Swan River, Sydney, and the East Indies, sailed for her destination on Friday, from Portsmouth, with prospects of favourable weather in her progress down the Channel. The Warrior is a fine vessel of about 700 tons burden, and carried out upwards of 250 passengers to the new settlement. Several of the passengers are persons of independent fortune, who have embarked considerable property in the speculation ; and and two ofthem, named Byrne and Molloy, paid the enormous sum of L1,000 for the best accommodation the vessel could afford their families and suite. Six pianos are on board the Warrior, and a proportionate number of fair and accomplished vocalists and musicians of course accompany the instruments to their destination. The Warrior has also on board fifty dogs of the choicest breed, several pens of sheep, considerable number of swine, two milch cows, and three valuable horses ; but, as tempestuous weather may be anticipated on the vessel reaching the Bay of Biscay, apprehensions are entertained that a portion of the live cargo must be consigned to the ocean before the termination of the voyage. It is calculated that, from the advantageous arrangements entered into by the commander and a gentleman named Semple, who has chartered the Warrior, and gone out in her, they will clear the enormous sum of L10,000 by the voyage.


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