than by authority of King, Lords, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, or shall tend to stir up the people to hatred or contempt of the person of his majesty, his heirs or successors, or of the government and constitution of this realm as by law established, every such meeting shall be unlawful. It shall be lawful for the justices, sheriff, mayor, or head officer, to command persons not qualified to attend at meetings under the provisions of the act to disperse, and if they do not disperse within a quarter of an hour after proclamation has been made, every such person shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and shall be liable to be transported for a term not exceeding seven years. The same punishment is inflicted on persons obstructing justices in the discharge of their duty under the act. The act is not to extend to any meeting "wholly holden in any room or apartment of any house or building," nor to meetings for the return of members.-Parishes containing more than twenty thousand persons are to be divided into one or more parts.-Persons carrying arms or banners at meetings are to be liable to fine, and imprisonment for any period not exceeding two years. Lecture-rooms and debating-rooms are to be deemed disorderly, if not licensed, with the exception of the rooms in which schoolmasters teach their scholars, the lecture rooms at the Universities, Gresham College, the Inns of Court, &c. THE NEWSPAPER STAMP DUTIES BILL-states, that, from and after ten days after it be passed,-" all pamphlets and papers containing any public news, intelligence, or occurrences, or any remarks or observations thereon, or upon any matter in church or state, printed in any part of the united kingdom for sale, and published periodically, or in parts or numbers, at intervals, not exceeding 26 days between the publication of any two such pamphlets or papers, parts or numbers, where any of the said pamphlets or papers, parts or numbers, respectively, shall not exceed two sheets, or shall be published for sale for a less sum than 6d. exclusive of the duty by this act imposed thereon, shall be deemed and taken to be newspapers ;"-that is, they shall be liable to the newspaper stamp duty, and to all restrictions and penalties that fall on newspapers. This measure is against publications which come out periodically," or in parts or numbers at intervals." phemous or seditious libel shall be paid; and making liable for any newspaper, pamphlet, or other paper printed or pub lished without such security, to a fine of L. 20 each copy. THE TRAINING PREVENTION ACT is entitled, "An Act to prevent the training of persons to the use of arms, and to the practice of military evolutions and exercise." It commerces by pohibiting all meetings for drilling and training, or for being drilled and trained, without lawful authority from his majesty, or the lieuten ant, or two justices of the peace, and pu nishes all who attend such meetings by transportation for a term not exceeding se ven years, or imprisonment for not exceed ing two years. It then gives power to any justice of the peace, constable, or peace-officer, to disperse any such meeting, and to arrest and detain any person present at, or aiding, assisting, or abetting it.-Actions against any justice, justices, peace-officers or constable, for any thing done under this act, are to be brought within six months after the fact charged was committed. THE SEARCH FOR ARMS ACT is entitled, "An Act to authorize justices of the peace in certain disturbed counties to seize and detain arms collected or keptfor purposes dangerous to the public peace;" and is "to continue in force until the twenty-fifth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two." It states, that arms have been collected, and are kept for purposes dangerous to the public peace, and that it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, upon the information of one or more credible witness or witnesses, to issue his warrant to any constable, or other peace-officer, to search for and seize any pike, pike-head, spear, dirk, dagger, pistol, gun, or other weapon, and to any other person or persons assisting the officer; and, if admission be refused, or not obtained within a reasonable time after it shall have been first demanded, they may enter by force, by day or night, to search for such arms. The act extends to Lancashire, Cheshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, and to the counties of Warwick, Stafford, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland, Durham, Renfrew and Lanark, and Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nottingham, and Coventry. There is also a power to extend it to any other county or riding, on a representation made by justices at the sessions, or any general meeting of the lieutenancy of any county or riding. The part of this bill most objected to is THE ACT FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF that which requires securities from the prin- BLASPHEMOUS AND SEDITIOUS LIBELS. ter or publisher of any newspaper, pamph--By this act, as it originally stood, any let, or other publication containing news, &c. of L. 300, each in himself, and two or three sureties, within twenty miles round London, and L. 200 in the country, that any fine for printing or publishing a blas person who should be convicted of having composed, printed, or published, any blasphemous or seditious libel, and after such conviction should offend a second time, was to incur the punishment of transportation; and in the event of his returning before the period assigned in his sentence, was to suffer death. The exertions of the booksellers, printers, and newspaper proprietors, of London and elsewhere, procured an amelioration of this obnoxious clause; and the word banishment was inserted in the bill in place of transportation. Any action or suit a gainst any justice of the peace, or other peaceofficer, for any thing done by them in pursuance of this act, must be commenced within three calendar months after the fact committed, and must be tried in the county where the fact was committed. In Scotland all such actions must be brought before the Court of Session. JANUARY. BRITISH CHRONICLE. Nesspapers. The following is a statement of the number of newspaper stamps (exclusive of the Irish) which were issued from Somerset House during the last two years, for the London and country newspapers, at fourpence cach: For 1818 21,018,610 21,833,094 Being an increase to the revenue, during the last year, of 819,484 fourpences! consumed the whole range of buildings, consisting of about 18 sets of rooms, in three hours. Happily, by great exertions, the lodgings of Dr Macbride, the Principal, were saved from the flames, by pulling down the building which connected the two together. No lives were lost. All the furniture, books, &c. destroyed. Explosion of Gas.-About half past eight o'clock on the evening of the 7th, an unfortunate explosion took place in the houses of Messrs Benjamin and John Slater, of Forth Street in Newcastle, of gas, which had escaped from the pipe in the foot-path; the front and back of the two houses were blown out. Benjamin's family consisted of six sons and daughters; one of the girls was severely burnt: she was going into a White 24 1 empl. closet in the parlour, with a light which The Navy. The official list of the Royal Navy, corrected up to the commencement of the present year, enumerates the following officers :— Admiral of the Fleet 1 Admirals of the Vice-Admirals of the Rear-Admirals of the Blue 24 Red 21 1 White 22- Commodore caused the blast. Mrs B. Slater, and a lady visitor, with two of the family, were up stairs above the parlour at the time. The child was thrown from the mother's arms; and the son and the visitor were thrown on the floor by the shock, and they got down stairs with difficulty into the street. Mr John Slater had two friends and three children spending the evening with him at the time. He is sorely lamed; his wife has both her ankles out; the visitor and his wife were also lamed, and their child is dead. 15. Edinburgh. We understand that, in the question at present depending before Lord Cringletic, at the instance of certain individual guild-brethren of this city, against the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of Edinburgh, for having it found and declared that the guildry are an incorporation, that they have a right to call upon the Dean to convene the guildry, &c. &c. the Lord Ordinary, on Tuesday, upon advising a condescendence for the pursuers, with answers for the defenders, assoilzied the Magistrates, and found them entitled to expences. Smuggling has so much increased on the north-east of Scotland, that it has been found expedient, we understand, to adopt means for rendering the preventive service more efficient on that coast. Three new stations are to be formed in that line, includ ing Aberdeen, at each of which a naval of ficer will preside, who will instruct the revenue officers and cruizers on the coast, as advised by Government, or according to his own local knowledge and observation. The three superior officers appointed to fill these situations are two of them Captains, and the other a Post Captain in the Royal Navy. 17. Excessive Cold.-The silver in the barometer, on Friday night, the 14th inst. at Islington, was down into the bowl, a thing never known in this country. Edinburgh. On the top of the south open arch, ornamenting the great arch of the Regent Bridge, the following inscription is just finishing :-" Opened on the 18th August 1819, for the entrance of his Royal Highness Prince Leopold of SaxeCobourg." The late Musical Festival.—We are informed that Mr Russell, treasurer to the late Musical Festival, has received from Messrs Coutts and Co. the sum of fifty guineas, which had been paid to them on 20th November last, by order of his Royal Highness Prince Leopold, being his Royal Highness's subscription, as patron of the Festival. The treasurer has been directed by the trustees for distributing the proceeds of the Festival, to pay over the above sum to the following charities, in addition to the sums already received by them :— Society for Relief of Indigent Old Men Society for Clothing Industri- and locked him in, and made the best of their way through one of the under passa ges, and got clear over the back wall. The prisoners were shortly afterwards retaken, and tried before the Sheriff, for this offence, when T. Innes and L. Anderson were sentenced to receive 30 lashes each; J. Macpherson, 20; and W. Bartie and W. Forrest, 10 each. The youngest boy, H. Murray, was acquitted. The sentence was put in execution in presence of the prisoners in Bridewell. 24. Law regarding Mechanics, &c.—We understand that the Lords of the Treasury have given directions to allow mechanics, artificers, &c. to emigrate from Great Britain to any country, and in any ship. The law formerly prevented tradesmen from leaving the kingdom. Insulting a Kirk Session. The minister of Fordyce lately brought a complaint and action before the Sheriff against one of his parishioners, for insulting the members of session, and addressing them in insolent language, when engaged in their ordinary duties.-The Sheriff, having advised the complaint, and answers for the defendant, and finding it fully substantiated by the evidence adduced, sentenced the defendant to pay a fine of L. 10 sterling. Before pronouncing sentence, the Sheriff observed, that he considered this case to be of more importance, than, at first view, it might appear, because church sessions have no L. 10 10 0 civil power to protect themselves from such insults. Destitute Sick Society, Leith Leith Female Society for Reliev-. ing Aged and Indigent Wo men 10 10 0 10 10 0 L. 52 10 0 The above sum, with L. 1226, 12s. 11d. formerly paid by Mr Russell, makes the whole sums derived to the Charitable Institutions of this city and neighbourhood, from the late Musical Festival, amount L. 1279, 2s. Ild, to 28. Monument to Burns the Poet.-On Tuesday the 25th, it being the anniversary of the Poet's birth, the foundation-stone of a splendid monument to the memory of Robert Burns was laid in his own native county. The base of this monument is 10 10 0 triangular, representing the three districts of Kyle, Carrick, and Cunningham, in the centre of which there is to be an apartment for the accommodation of visitors. The triangular part of the building rises to the height of twenty feet, on the top of which a range of nine columns of the Corinthian order ascends, of thirty feet elevation, which is to be surmounted by a cupola,crowned by a tripod. The whole height of the monument will be upwards of sixty feet; and its effect, as exhibited in the design, is exceedingly rich and beautiful. The site chosen for it is a rising ground on the left of the road leading from Ayr to Maybole, and in the immediate vicinity of Alloway Kirk, and the old bridge of Doon; the two most conspicuous places in the poem of "Tam o' Shanter," which may be reckoned the masterpiece of Burns's muse. The scenery by which the site of the monument is surroundcd is exceedingly picturesque. The Most Worshipful Depute Grand Master, Alexander Boswell, of Auchinleck, Esq. laid the foundation-stone, and deposited a plate, bearing the following inscription:" By 20. Escape from Bridewell.-On Monday last, about 12 o'clock noon, three men and three boys, prisoners in Edinburgh Bridewell, effected their escape in the following manner :-As the turnkey entered a cell where the prisoners were confined, for the purpose of removing one of them to another apartment, a quantity of snuff was thrown in his eyes, and instantly the whole prisoners attacked him and knocked him down; they then attempted to put a rope round his neck, with the intention to hang him; but he being a stout man, prevented them carrying their purpose into execution. The noose of the rope getting into his mouth prevented him from giving the alarm. They then dragged him into another cell, the Favour of Almighty God, on the twenty-fifth day of January, A.D. MDCCCXX. of the Era of Masonry 5820, and in the Sixtieth Year of the Reign of our beloved Sovereign George the Third, his Royal Highness, George Prince of Wales, being Regent of the United Kingdom, and munificent Subscriber to the Edifice, the Foundation-stone of this Monument, erected by public subscription in honour of the genius of Robert Burns, the Ayrshire Poet, was laid by Alexander Boswell, Esq. of Auch inleck, M. P. Worshipful Depute Grand Master of the Most Ancient Mother Lodge Kilwinning, (attended by all the Mason.Lodges in Ayrshire,) according to the ancient usages of Masonry, Thomas Hamilton, jun. Edinburgh, Architect, John Connel, jun. Builder and Contractor." DEATH OF THE DUKE OF KENT. On Sunday the 23d, his Royal Highness Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, died at his cottage at Sidmouth, in Devonshire, at ten o'clock in the morning. The complaint which has thus so suddenly terminated the life of his Royal Highness was an inflam. mation of the lungs, with cough, attributed to a neglected cold, which he caught from sitting in wet boots after a walk in the environs of Sidmouth, with Captain Conroy. In the morning of the preceding Thursday, his Royal Highness was reported to be in imminent danger; but towards the middle of the day he rallied again, in consequence of a little refreshing sleep which he had been enabled to obtain. Towards evening, however, all the alarming symptoms returned again with increased vehemence, and continued so till towards Saturday morning, when a kindly remission of them took place. This, however, proved to be only that fatal relief which so commonly occurs before death ensues. lotte. The only issue of this marriage was a daughter, named Alexandrina Victoria, who was born at Kensington Palace on the 24th of May 1819. In the death of his Royal Highness the country has sustained a great and heavy loss. His public and private virtues justly endeared him to every class of societyby none will he be more regretted than by the poor, for whose relief he was unweari ed in his exertions. Every humane and benevolent institution in him found an elo. quent advocate, and a liberal patron and protector. FEBRUARY. DEATH OF KING GEORGE III. His Majesty, who has been dead to the world for many years past, is at length relieved from his sufferings, after the longest and most eventful reign upon record in the history of England. This affecting intelligence reached Edinburgh by the mail of the 2d instant, and though for some weeks past the public have been prepared for the event by common rumour, and also by the great age and increasing infirmities of our late august Sovereign, the intelligence, nevertheless, excited a deep sensation among all classes. His Majesty expired at Windsor Castle, on the 29th January, at 35 minutes past eight o'clock P. M. without a struggle, and as unconscious of dissolution as if he had been sinking into an agreeable slumber. He was not heard to speak a word for two hours before his death. The last words he uttered consisted of a short question upon a subject in itself of no importance. then lay perfectly quiet and still-not a groan escaped him, and not the least indication of returning reason, not a ray of mental sanity, broke through the last moments of his life. His affectionate son, the Duke of York, remained by the bed-side of his dying parent, till the last breath, for there was no struggle, had died away. He His Royal Highness was the fourth son of his Majesty George III. and was born on the 2d of November 1767. He was consequently in the fifty-third year of his age. His Majesty George the Third was born He was a Field Marshal in the British ar- on the 24th of May 1738; which, since my, and had held the situation, since 1801, the alteration of the style, has become the of Governor in Chief of the important for 4th of June. At his death, therefore, he tress of Gibraltar. He was also Colonel had reached the advanced age of eighty-one of the Royal Scots regiment of foot. His years, seven months, and twenty-six days. Royal Highness had seen much military He was proclaimed king on the 25th of service, and served under Sir C. Grey, in October 1760, and crowned on the 22d the West Indies, in the early part of the September 1761. On September 8, 1761, revolutionary war, during which time he he was married to her late Majesty, and was present at the reduction of St Lucie. had seven sons and five daughters, of whom six of the former, and four of the latter, survive him. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was appointed Regent on the 6th of February 1811; and from that time he has been virtual Sovereign, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty. He was married, on the 29th of May 1818, at Cobourg, (and remarried at Kew Palace, on the 11th July, same year,) to her Serene Highness Victoria Maria Louisa, youngest daughter of the late reigning Duke of Saxe Cobourg, widow of his late Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen, and sister of his Royal Highness the Prince of Saxe Cobourg, the chosen husband of our much lamented Princess Char As it respects himself, there is something in the fate of our departed Monarch to awaken a sentiment of deep regret. The greater part of his actual reign of half a century, it cannot be denied, included a long series of national misfortunes. A large portion of this period was occupied by two long and disastrous wars, one of which ended in a dismemberment of the empire, and the other endangered its very existence, and accumulated a debt which still over powers us with its pressure. When, at last, a happier prospect began to dawn upon us, our revered Monarch was shut out from its brightness. He who had borne all the vicissitudes of the storm, was in no capacity to enjoy the sunshine. The visual ray of his body and mind was closed at once on the sun of our rising fortunes. This, it must be confessed, was a severe ordination. His fate has, however, this consolation-that if he has been deaf to the tale of our victories, he has also escaped all participation of the calamities by which they were purchased. It is rather to the virtues of the man than the attributes of the monarch that our late Sovereign is indebted for the universal sentiment of regret and affection by which his memory is consecrated. His personal history, as a king, is, as yet, but imperfectly known. In what degree he was individually concerned in the leading events of his reign, we are very little in formed. Many of the historians and biographers of late years have not scrupled to assert, that George Third had been his own minister to a much greater extent than had been generally apprehended. The limited constitution of our monarchy, and the irresponsible character of the king, have hitherto prevented this matter from being solicitously investigated, or much understood. It belongs to future times to set this point in a clearer light. But if our knowledge in these matters is thus limited, the private character of the late king is perfectly developed, for he led a life of the most fearless openness. As a father, a husband, a master, and a Chris tian, his virtues were apparent to all, and loudly proclaimed to the ends of the earth. No secret enemy-no factious calumniator -no furious demagogue-no Paine, Carlyle, or Cobbett-ever found any vulnerable place, through which to assail the pure character of the Monarch.-Amidst the wars of faction and scandal, holding his head amidst the storm and shower of poisoned arrows, his immaculate reputation as a man has escaped unhurt. To those who consider the temptations by which royalty is surrounded, this praise will appear no mean claim to the immortality of history. With regard to his abilities, it is most certain that the intellectual powers of the late king were generally underrated. His conversations, as reported by Dr Johnson, Dr Beattie, and others, display powers of thought of no common order; and his observations on literature and the arts evince, that, amid the duties of royalty, he found leisure to cultivate the sciences which have rendered his reign so illustrious. According to the custom on the demise of the Crown, Parliament met on Sunday the 30th, in consequence of the lamented death of his Majesty George III. Next day and the following were occupied in administering to the members the oath of allegiance to George IV., after which both houses adjourned to the 17th instant, the day succeeding that on which the funeral of his late majesty is to take place. ACCESSION Or King George IV. On Sunday the 31st, at two o'clock, his Majesty King George the Fourth held his first court since his accession to the throne, as a matter of state necessity, (all authorities having ceased on the demise of King George the Third,) at Carlton House, now his Majesty's Palace. The Court consisted of all the male branches of the Royal Family now in England, most of the Cabinet Ministers, the great Officers of State, the Members of the Privy Council of the late King, and a numerous assemblage of the Nobility, Members of the two Houses of Parliament, the Lord Mayor of London, the Court of Aldermen, &c. His present Majesty having declared himself successor to his late father, our late highly venerated Sovereign, the oaths of allegiance, &c. were administered by Viscount Chetwynd, the Clerk of the Council, who afterwards took the same himself, which were administered by Mr Buller. His Majesty afterwards commanded a Privy Council to be holden, when all those present, of his late Majesty's Council, were re-sworn Privy Councillors to his present Majesty King George the Fourth. The following proclamation was then agreed upon for proclaiming his present Majesty King George IV. Sovereign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, &c. Proclamation." Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God to call to his Mercy our late Sovereign Lord King George the Third, of Blessed Memory, by whose decease the Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is solely and rightfully come to the High and Mighty Prince, George, Prince of Wales, We therefore, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this realm, being here assisted with these of his late Majesty's Privy Council, with numbers of other principal gentlemen of quality, with the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London, do now hereby, with one voice and consent of tongue and heart, publish and proclaim that the High and Mighty Prince, George, Prince of Wales, is now, by the death of our late Sovereign, of Happy Memory, become our |