For future years the prospects are encouraging, the calculation being that the annual revenue will, for several years after 1821, exceed the annual expenditure.

The great question respecting the admission of the new state of Missouri into the Union, which, though little regarded in this country, has taken precedence of every other in point of interest, throughout the United states, is disposed of for the present. After passing the Senate, it was rejected in the House of Representatives by 93 votes to 79 on the 13th. There will still be reserved to Missouri the option of expunging the obnoxious clause in her constitution relative to the employment of slaves, and little doubt of her admission is then entertained.

FEBRUARY.

GREAT BRITAIN.

1.Extraordinary passage The packet ship James Monroe, Captain Rogers, left New York, at eight o'clock on the morning of January 15, and was in dock at Liverpool before ten o'clock this morning (Thursday.)-Liverpool Mercury.

By the report of J. H. Capper, esq, superintendent of the convict ships, it appears, that on January 1, 1820, there were in confinement, in all the ships 2837 prisoners, since when 2996 have been received from different gaols, making a total of 5833; of that number 2758 have been transported to New South Wales; 448 either discharged by pardon, or transferred to other prisons: 66 have died, and six have escaped; leaving on board the

hulks, the first of last January, 2555 convicts. The prisoners have continued healthy, except for a short period last autumn; and the youthful offenders continue to be classed, instructed and employed as per last report, and have in general behaved well.

2. The tumults among the colliers in Shropshire, have led to fatal consequences. On account of the reduction of iron and stagnation of trade, the wages of the men were reduced 6d. per day. Discontent immediately manifested itself; and a large body of men marched to Madley-wood, Dawley, &c., stopped all the works, injured and destroyed the machinery, and compelled the workmen to join the ranks of the turbulent. On Friday se'nnight it became absolutely necessary to call out the two troops of the Wellington yeomanry, under the command of colonel Cludde, in aid of the civil power; and they proceeded to disperse a body of about 3,000 rioters, assembled near the Old Park Iron Works, three miles from Wellington. The riot act having been read, and an hour elapsed, the mob still remaining, some of the ringleaders were taken into custody; but when the constables and military were conducting their prisoners towards the town, a general attack with stones and cinders was made by the colliers upon them, from the summits of two cinder-hills, on each side of the road. The abrupt ascent of the hills rendered a charge impracticable, so that the cavalry were obliged to use their fire-arms; one man was killed on the spot, many were wounded, some dangerously, two of whom are since dead. The

cavalry

cavalry, however, succeeded in securing six of the eight prisoners, who were lodged in Shrewsbury gaol. In dispersing the mob several of the cavalry were severely hurt by stones and cinders. On the following day the military force was increased. This circumstance, and the fate of some of their companions, intimidated the rioters from doing further mischief in the iron-works; but parties have spread themselves over the adjacent country, and are begging, while others, more desperate are committing depredations upon property; several persons have been stopped and plundered in the neighbourhood of the works. Verdicts of Justifiable Homicide have been returned on those killed or dead of their wounds. Some of the colliers on Thursday last returned to their work.

On Saturday the 3d instant, by a strong gale from the southwest, one of the fishing-boats of Torry was lost, on her return from the fishing-ground. The following is the account, which the only survivor of a crew of six men, William Webster, gives of the disaster:-" About ten o'clock, forenoon, when nearly a mile and a half from land, a heavy swell of sea capsized our boat, and washed us out. We all got on her bottom, and were together for three quarters of an hour. Then another sea separated us, and some got hold of oars, but four of us soon sunk in the ocean. I and my son got again on the bottom of the boat, where I held fast, and kept him, who was fainting, for nearly two hours, At this time, my dear son was washed off, notwithstanding all the help I

could give him; and I, with the wreck, was carried by the current four or five miles southward. Now, by Providence, there came a sloop past, the sight of which revived me, and she made for me, but, being to the leeward, she could not reaeh me. She, however, put out a flag of distress to a brig which appeared; and the people in her, as they came towards the sloop, which they thought to be in distress, spied me on the wreck. They could not get out a boat, but hove a rope to me, of which I got hold; but so very weak was I become, that I could not tie or get the rope round me, but I took it in my mouth and hands, and was hauled on board."-Besides the son of this man, who has a wife and five children, there were lost a father and his son; the father leaving a widow and five children, none of whom are able to go to sea, and some of them are very young. One son of a person, aged and weak, who has a wife advanced in life; two children, and a grandson, who were depending on him for support.

It appears by an account laid before parliament of the total weekly amount of bank notes and bank post-bills in circulation, between the 18th of July, 1820, and the 6th of Feb. 1821, that the following were the totals at those respective periods:-July 18th, 26,043,3801. February 6th, 23,563,6801. making a diminution of nearly 2,500,0001. The lowest amount was 20,785,4601. on the 12th of Dec. last. The highest never exceeded that above stated on the 18th of July.

8. In the Court of King's Bench Westminster, sir Francis Burdett, attended

attended by his counsel, and several members of parliament, appeared to receive judgment for a seditious libel, of which the baronet was convicted at Leicester, several months since.

After the counsel on both sides had addressed the court, the learned judges conferred together about half an hour; and Mr. justice Bayley delivered the judgment of the bench.

It was his painful duty, his lordship said, in the situation which he filled, to pass upon the defendant the collective judgment of the court. It had happened, in the course of the proceedings in the cause, that his lordship had differed in opinion from his learned brothers; and to that difference allusion had been made. The difference, however, had merely occurred upon a technical point-whether there had or had not been against the defendant sufficient evidence of a publication in Leicestershire and it now appeared to the learned judge that, even if a new trial in Leicestershire had been granted, publication in that county would easily have been proved, because he thought that the circulation in that county of any newspaper, in which the insertion of the libel had been authorized by the defendant, would amount to publication in that county. That the defendant was the author of the libel stood admitted; and in forming a judgment upon the character of the offence, it became material to look at the state of the public mind at the time when the libel had been published. The letter was founded-it purported upon the face of it to be founded -upon facts of which sir F.

Burdett was ignorant, except from the representations contained in certain newspapers. Those representations were certainly calculated to excite the highest degree of feeling in the public mind, because there was a very broad and strong insinuation that needless violence had been resorted to:--the learned judge could not blame any man for having his feelings roused by a perusal of the statements which those newspapers contained. It was no part of his lordship's duty to judge whether those statements were correct or not; he had no means of judgings and it was the duty of a court of justice to act upon those facts, and upon those facts only, on which they were capable of forming a judicial opinion. From the nature, how. ever, of the facts stated, in a country like England, where the poor experienced from the laws of their country the same protection as the rich, and where an outrage to the lowest individual excited the indignation of the whole community, it could not be doubted that the effect of the statements must have been to excite very considerable passion. that time, and upon those statements, it was that the defendant's letter had appeared; and the learned judge's objection to that letter were four in number. It was calculated to increase the excitement which already was ex, isting: it assumed too hastily that the facts, as stated, were correct; it had a tendency to prejudge the public mind against persons who, if the facts alleged against them were true, would be liable to capital indictment; and it tended to excite the minds of

At

the

the people against the govern. ment, as though the government had originated and directed the outrages which had taken place. It seemed impossible to the court that any person could look at the libel in question without seeing that it was calculated to produce a strong excitement against the government of the country; that part of it in particular which proceeded-" This, then, is the answer of the boroughmongers to the petitioning people-this is the practical proof of our standing in no need of reform-this is the blessing of a standing army in time of peace;" Petitions could only be addressed by the people to the king, the lords, and the commons; and the answer referred to must be taken to be an answer pro ceeding from powers to whom a petition could be addressed. The court was not inattentive to the circumstance, that the libel had been written in a moment of haste. If the motive of the de. fendant had been a bad one, that circumstance would have formed an addition to his offence; as it was otherwise, he would derive great consolation from the knowledge of that fact; but it was the duty of the court to look at the natural tendency of the libel; and upon that point the learned judge had already given his opinion. The court, taking into its consideration all the circumstances of the case, did order and adjudge that the defendant should pay to the king a fine of 2,000l. and that he should be imprisoned for three months, in the custody of the marshal of the King's Bench.

-

The honourable baronet imme

diately went away in a hackney coach, accompanied by several of his friends, and by the officers of the court. On his way he was greeted with the warmest acclamations from a vast concourse of persons who were collected to witness his departure.

The court, during the whole proceeding, was crowded to excess: and, during the pause between the address from the crown and the judgment of their lordships, anxiety appeared on every countenance, and a silence absolutely solemn prevailed.

11.-Between four and five o'clock, the neighbourhood of Whitecross-street, St. Luke's, was thrown into great confusion and alarm, by the springing of rattles and cries of "fire, fire!" in consequence of volumes of smoke and flames being seen ascending at the back of the houses belonging to Mr. Whantley, an oilman, and Mr. Wiginton, an undertaker, in Whitecross-street. It was soon discovered that the extensive premises of Mr. Darbyshire, cabinet-maker, at the extremity of a narrow passage, were in flames; and it was not till the fire had communicated to the room in which Mr. and Mrs. D. and five children were fast asleep, that they could be made sensible of their impending danger; when with great difficulty they escaped into the street. It was then found that one of the children, a little girl about three years old, was missing. Mrs. Darbyshire, with an infant in her arms, rushed through the flames, and happily succeeded in preserving her child, who was asleep in bed. The fire had by this time gained such an ascendancy,

that

that the greatest fear was enter tained for the safety of the surrounding houses; but happily, at this critical moment the wind shifted, and the engines were instantly put in motion, and prevented the flames from extending their ravages. The fire was got under about seven o'clock, but not till the whole of Mr. Darby. shire's premises, which occupied an immense plot of ground, together with property to the amount of 3000l. were entirely consumed. Several of the adjoining houses were slightly injured.

26.-About five o'clock in the evening an alarming fire broke out in the extensive premises of Messrs. J. and C. Butler, wholesale chymists and druggists, in Gutter-lane, (formerly the New London Tavern,) Cheapside, which for a considerable time threatened total destruction to the surrounding warehouses. The progress of the devouring element was greatly accelerated by the inflammable nature of the stock, and the flames reached the warehouses of Mr. Gardener, a trimming manufacturer, on one side, and those of Messrs. Jackson and Co. engravers, on the other. The appearance was now dreadful, and fears were entertained for the church in Foster-lane, the flames having communicated to Saddler's-hall, which we understand suffered considerably; but by the vigilant exertions of the inhabitants, assisted by the church-wardens, the flames were prevented from entering the fabric. Not withstanding the alacrity of the firemen, the premises in which the conflagration commenced, which extend from Gutter-lane

nearly into Foster-lane, were entirely consumed; and the houses of Mr. Gardner and Messrs. Jackson and Co. in Gutter-lane, and six houses in Cheapside, whose back premises extend as far as the side of those of Messrs. Butler and Co. were greatly da maged. A valuable collection of heraldry, which has been accumulating in the engraving concern of Messrs. Jackson and Donne, and their predecessors, for upwards of a century, independently of a very large stock, consisting of bank-note, card, and bill of parcel plates, was consumed.

FRANCE.

The minister of finance, in presenting the estimates for the year 1821, stated that the expected receipts would considerably exceed the current expences, and this, without resorting to any parsimonious retrenchment in the different branches of the public service.

Another attempt has been made to alarm or injure the royal family, by the explosion of a petard, in the palace of the Tuileries near the king's chamber.

The king has received deputations from both houses, expressing their regret and indignation at these attempts against the royal family, which still occupy the Court of Enquiry, and the Legislative Chambers. A man of the name of Neven was taken up on suspicion of being concerned in those explosions. On the point of entering the office of the commissary of police appointed to take his deposition, escorted by a peace officer and two inspectors, he took an opportunity, whilst passing through a narrow corri

dor,