Star. — London, England, 1824-09-30 00:00:00

t Comparison befteeen the Powers of England 'and Reasiai as th_ey stared in relation to Eattopeat large. By M. LAME de Mum% (flow Tor . CHAT. t The - ngssattiol Diabif;te f Skittle between itiviined aid ausela;--aie imager *adagio of Mb "WC The continent of Europe is at this moment under the dominion and influence of two great Powers; and how ever the national pride of the other States into which Europe is divided, may vaunt and endeavour by out ward appearances to prove their - independence, yet so great is the disproportion of the forces of those two Powers with the strength of the other continental States, that, in point of fact, it has become impossible for the latter, in the conduct of their affairs * to move totally uninfluenced by the former. In future we shall hear no mere of the independence of nations, for these two Powers will exercise supreme controul over the other kingdoms, until all are more completely absorbed under their overwhelming rule, than even at present; and no independent banners- shall flout the , air save those of Russia and England. . In the plenitude of its greatness * Rome was the only asylum where the injured or oppressed could find secuv ritr from domestic convulsions, or receive protection from external 'aggressions. But in our days at double " Protectorate" has reared its colossal form in Europe ; and although the modes of intercourse adopted by civi lised nations may, to a certain degree, conceal the traits of this vassalage of the less powerful States, the yoke of tacit submission is not on that account the less firmly ri veted on their respective Governments. Of these two Anvers, the one, namely, England,-possesses the means of attracting to its own coffers the riches of other nations;. while the other, Russia, may at any time menace their sera parate existence. The former, by its essential interests, its; laws k and its manners, is limited to a certain line of poa.- 1 hey ; whereas the latter knows no such impediments, because the nature of the Government is autocratical:— There ate stlll taro other powetfttl States on the COnti-, Prance and Austria ; but they are very inferior to the two former in strength and independence, the first elements of which Nature has bestowed on Eng , land and Russia, while she has refused them to Austria and France. In every' question of European politics, however little important, the general inquiry now is, *bat may be the view's and determinations of the Rus sian or British Cabinets? Under every circumstance it is their " visa," or authoritative permission, which pre scribes' the rule of action to the other Governments. It was thus that, in the time of Napoleon, the whole-of continental Europe followed with anilbus eye all' the movements of the great ruler, and listened with atten tive ear to every word which fell from his lips. The scene is only transferred from Paris to Petersburgh; the dictator, it is true, is chan'ged, but the etistence and the pressure of the dictatorship reniain. Br this extra ordinary concurrence of events, the labours of Henry of France, of Gustavus of Sweden, of William of Env' land, of Richelieu, and Oxenttiern (provident and mighty geniuses) have entirely failed in establisliing the" liberties of Europe by founding them upon the balance of power. Where is that political equilibrium, the fa irourite object of their wise combinations ?—On one side Russia, whore name not an hundred years since was scarcely known as a Power in Europe, has been silently advancing to gigantic strength, veiled by the impene trable darkness of barbarism ;—on the other, England, effecting with difficulty her religious and political re. formation, had at that time hardly tried her power on the ocean. India and America were as yet unknown to her ;—at pre s ent she includes nearly the whole world under the strong force of her arm, and the extent of her foreign empire seems only to be equalled by the apparent permanency of her dominion.—Frenchmen ! Spirits of departed warrior, whose remains have ferti bled' the Russian soil ! Ye conquerors of a military race ; but, alas! inglorious victims of northern incle mency, how doubly burdensome must be to you the weight of that earth, since your blood, shed in vain, huh hot received its merited rewatd ; and the barrier, WhiCh Europe demanded, has been denied to your la bours! Fruitless regrets! Alas! the day propitious to unrestricted and salutary combinations for the liberties of Europe has long since passed away from us t The natural result, however, of the vast extent of do minion conquered by England and Russia has been to establish a tivalship between them. Do but let us ima gine two mighty rivers proceeding from one common source, flowing along in parallel lines, contiguous, as it were, to each other, and yet " asymptotically" refusing to'blend their waters. Thus, united in counsel and el fort against Napoleon, by his death, which was the common work of both, the interest.- of England and Russia are separated for ever. His tomb was the point of their estrangement from each other ; the allies of Leipsic and of Waterloo are henceforward essentially opposed to each other in every political circumstance. Never did Rome aid Carthage watch each other's xnovements with more vigilant jealousy ; never with. more fervid envy did Cesar and Pompey behold the metropolis of the world divided between them, than those two modern Empires display in their dealings with each other. Both are daily laying claim to the good opinion and the admiration of the other States ; acrd each demands to have the honour of protecting the weaker against the stronger Power. We might fancy that upon the two extremities of the European Conti nent two heralds were placed, vaunting aloud the pre tensions of the " double Protectorate , ' urging the merits of either to become the protectress of the world ! A work, whose object is to guide the European choice between these two high protecting Powers, by making completely manifest the elements which have combined to cause their political elevation, seems to be the grand desideratum of the age. Circumstances contribute to render such a production absolutely indispensable. It has no limited character, no confined tendency; it is general, not particular, not local; in short, it is Euro pean, and embraces the consideration of all its various interests! Suggested by no motives of resentment ; without any view to the advancement of private views; impartial, and balanced by regard to truth alone, this work is destined to analyse in the face of Europe and the world their most essential and dearest interests! It is too common to bear it remarked of a book • sa 0! that is an English work—a French, or a Resss pro duction; but of this let it be said, that it it, in the most extensive signification " European." In discussing questions of such great and infinite importance as the* our first duty is to tbrow out of the way all coolideil-- tion_ of men, whb ittet'istettly..Waident creatures, in wi der to have our undividetattabdon fixed on circum stances the nature and effect of' which may be perma nent. In taking this' great cause in hand, the author har had no higher ambition than to prove himself the faithful and impartial' natfator. Readers will jodgelow far he has entitled himself to their credit. Free in his re searches, and sincere in his statements, he has conceived it, to be useful and proper, in the first instance, to give 'a succinct account of the separate parts of which the British power is composed; from which it will be teen, that the increasing civilisation of the globe_has pro gressively and mainly contributed to the advancement of her staticin al an empire; and that the art of being wealthy and successful' at home, principally consists in benefiting others, and in following only the line marked out by reason. muff. 11. - Enghtsd—in Population. The true basis of a country's strength is hi popula tion. Man is the universal, indispensable agent, whose destiny it is to work and fertilise• the earth . ; to whom land and sea yield alike their tributary riches; whose presence gives life and animation, and whose absence is alone sufficient to produce the sterility of a desert. He is in fact the same vivifying principle tcahe social state which the sun is to nature at large; for without the concurrence of men there would be neither the nerves nor sinews of a kingdom ; and without the invigorating influence of the solar orb we should in vain look for the varied productions•of the soil. The European population of the three united domi nions of Great Britain amounts to 18,000,000. The census of 1821 proves that the population of the British Isles has advanced one-fifth during the list thirty years, This increase is very considerable, and has no example in any other country of Europe ; but in the UnitetiStates it has been stillgreater ; for "there the population, w hidi, in 1776, was calculated at three millions, has already reached eleven million's. The progressive advance of !population in Engiand has been going.bn,notwithstand ing the unfavourable circumstances of a long and san .guinary war; and this, which hat proved a scourge to :hUmanity on the Continent, has entirely failed' in check , ing the population of England, owing. to its local and other peculiar advantages accorded to it by nature. In fact, so situated, and so socially, constituted, England derives benefit and increase hoer those citcsintstunces 'which press heavy on, and are injUriotts to)-the other ,States. The plagues of war retell only td tht Money- Coffers of Britain, but. spare its cities, its. fields, and its 'cultivators. Misery and devastation, those ordinary ;attendant curses of mar, perish cur her coasts. Her nu merous and powerful fleets render the interior of her 'dominions secure from the attacks of on as,ailing foe. .Whilst almost all the capitals of Europe were occupied by hostile armies; While twenty Princes were driven from their hereditary thrones, were wanilering over the face of Europe ; or trembling received back from the conquering hand their diadems; shorn of their brightest gems, England was attracting to its bosom the gold and merchandise of the whole world ; she was supporting,. clothing, and arming both friends and foes ; the arts, encouraged by necessity, verged on perfection, creating at once the want of and taste for her manufactures! In such a state of things, for one ma,n slaughtered in the field, it must be evident, that industry would sum mon a hundred to the work of reproduction, and thus, that England would naturally derive life and increase from the very causes which tended to depopulate and to weaken other kingdoms. The national progression of England was exactly in an inverse ratio to that of the Continent, where war suspended the course of ope rative labour, the principal and chief agent of repro duction in the social state. England has .lately for nished a solemn example of the contrary effects of war on herself and the Continent. The- more envenomed the character of the war, the greater her prosperity; at once she became the grand entrepot and manufac tory of the world; and thus the value of her soil, and the number of her working men, increased every day. But the succeeding peace, Which gave to the Continent its share in her hitherto exclusive prosperity and hap piness, has proportionably diminished the wealth of het aoicaltutists and the demand for her munnfactures. But it does not follow that the population of England •should, owing to this state of peace, be on the decline. Under an enlightened Government she has sought and discovered compensations for the losses which she has 'in this manner sustained. Her revenue for 1821 and 1822 exceeded the amount of any year during the war, !the most favourable to her prosperity. The Increase of the British population' is on many accounts no less fa vourable to the Continent than to England herself. Commerce is the sail of modern societies ; everywhere it seeks consumers; the nation which is the greatest consulter is the Most valuable in a commercial view, and most beneficial to society at large. The English take more for consumption than sty other nation, and thus their increase' in numbers will be commensurate with the extent of their conimerce f and Will be of in• - finite consequence to the whole wOrld. Compare with the British those nations who ate morally and physically benumbed, and insensible to the enjoyments of life, the Turks—the Africans-is their increase of importance to the world ? What have they to give ? what to exchange with us? Dead in a meaner to the world, the very animals by which men are supported rank higher in the scale of existence than those beings, who are clothed with the human figure, and yet contribute nothing to the welfare and comfort of their fellow• creatures. We have purposely excluded from this census the eighteen millions of British subjects, Who inhabit the Eastern and Western Colonies, and whose defence requires a part of the population of the mother country, and stand thus to it more in the light of expense than re ceipt; more as diminution, than addition of numbers. They are useful, however, to England, as consumers of her productions. These objects of consumption create labour, and salary, which in their turn contribute to the increase of the population of the country, which fur nishes those objects. Our attention, therefore, is limited to the population of the three United Kingdoms of Great Britain! CHAP. 111. The most remarkable, 'and at the same time, the most instructive feature in the character of the finances of England is, that their ahnobt incalculable extent does not depend upon her possession of Mines of gold and silver, but on the industry of her people, and her ur.deviating fidelity to the admirable institutions by which she is governed. This is the real and permanent cause of her immense wealth. The possession of the precious metals does not constitute national wealth, as the example of Spain more than sufficiently proves. It is by the adop tion of fixed principles (not liable to be changed by the continual controul of public opinion), and by the unrestricted developement of the faculties of every citizen, that the wealth of a nation is acquired, and, rendered'cihrable. The revendes•or Siotland and &O land must be considered - apart from those of Ireland ih our•estimate of the British fibithees, for/the Irish Go vernment returns, as well as those of the Colonies. and the Indies, do not enter into their composition. - The budget Of England, in INS, amounted in Receipt, to £55,333,333 6s. Bd. Disbursements, to £50,000,000, according - to the Report brought up in the House-of Commons, on the sixth of February of that year. In 1815, the taxes levied in England amounted to £66,666,666 13s. 4d. From 1808 to 1815 (an uninterrupted period of war)► this revenue remained steady (at a mean ratio) of £64,500,000; the product of the labour of twelve Mil lions of men only ! Consequently, had England possessed the same ad• vantages in territory and population as France, her an nual revenue would haie amounted to £150#000,000. Spain, with all her superiority over England,- in the possession of the country teeming with the precious metals, and numbering a population nearly equal to ' that of Britain, and with a soil infinitely superior, has' never seen her revenue exceed £6,666,666 13s. 4d. Austria, with her numerous population and fertile: territory, with difficulty forces her revenue up to £12,503,000 which is scarcely the fifth part of the re venue of England, whose population is less than that of Austria by one-half, and who at most has only one-' third of her territorial extent; so true is it in finance as in everything else, that natural causes must be sub , mined to moral causes, that is to say, to wisdom guided by the light of experience and observation! • Under the Stuart race of Sovereigns, England ranked in-Europe:tb'e lowest on the scale of wealthy nations. ffer revenues, her credit, her industry, her commerce, all languished' or-perished. The history of that time is nearry that of a 4 ..financiar struggle' be tween the Prince and his people, and the lamentable demonstration of a revenue annually deficient. No sooner, however, was she free to display _her native strength, and put fotth her hicKlen pdvaers,.than in, an instant she bec'a'me prosperous' And stealthy; and esta blished her interests 6n that line of intelligence and cuteess, from which the national vigilance has never permitted the GovernMent to depart. Front that period she ha's gone on progressively increasing in wealth and happiness,andfrom being originally orreof the smallest of the European States, and the least favoured by nature, she at this day surpasses thetft all by her wealth ; and rules in neatly allby her powerful inflhence I In fact, Ettglanti possesses the purse,of the world, and disputes' with it the absolute possessi6n of the sceptre of Universal dominion! She has arrived at Such a degree of wealth; that, nationally speaking, the words gain" of , o lose" have not in her cra , e their common accepta tion and force; therefore, that Which would overthrow or enrich another State (such is the immensity of her wealth), scarcely affects her ; or in case of increase, it would be like adding drops of water to the Ocean! It ; is " the public utility' alone, which guides and restricts the propositions. and measures of the English Ministry. !Let this be fairly proved to be the object of a measure, :the Means necessary to its execution are instantly forth coming without any difficulty. Thus the English Go vernment unhe si tatingly adopts the most extensive and boidest schemes, add easily overcomes obstacles, the very contemplation of which would paralyse a hundred' other Administrations The credit of England surpasses all that is attributed to the signiticationql the word in other countries. Btir dened by a .dekt of nearly £800.000,000, her Ministers declare, io the face of Europe, that never was she more able thaq at the present hour to adopt every mea sure required for the preservation of her own ho nour, and the general interests of Europe. It is the na tional spirit; the fidelity of the nation to its engage ments. It is England herself—England ) with alt her mighty and distinctive attributes of moral integrity, universal diffusion of kniow•ledge, as of wealth, which is the soul of this credit. With foundations thus deeply laid, where is the power that shall overthrow the glo rious edifice of British credit? The taxes in England are' levied. chiefly on consump tion, while the soil is spared. This principle is carried still farther in Arnerica,..for there the land is totally exempt from taxes, and consumption alone is burdened. In England the direct intpost on the soil does not ex ceed £1,500,000; all the other imposts which affect the soil produce only £8,333,333. 6s. Sd. Consequently, the imposts on property in England hardly amount to the eleventh part of the Government expenditure; whilst in France, where the Budget is fixed at £37,500,000, this same impost forms a little more than one-third of all the contributions. In the other States of Europe the proportion is still greater ; and it clearly appears from this that every direct impost proceeds frons ignorance,. and that the incli,ect are the result of science. Eng land- alone possesses a perfect knowledge of this science, and to it-chiefly it owes-a revenue of 133,383,383 6s. Bd. arising froth eight exciseable articles. The produce of the English Custom-house (amounting annually to £10,000,000) proves thee:tent of the com merce, and immensity of consumption in the country, and it exceeds the total produce of all the other Custom houses in Europe! The English Post Office revenue amounts to £1,833,368.65. Bd. annually ; but in France only to £500,000. The good policy of England directs her to provide for the general wants of mankind ; whereas on the Continent a less sound principle of ad ministration provides almost exclusively for superflui ties. It is easy to determine en which side good sense is to be found ! In France, and still mote in Spain, it is im possible that there should be general easiness in circum stances, or observable circulation of money, because the habitual condition of the mass of the people is wretched, and the enjoyment of the comforts and superfluities of life is confined to a few. Hence the interior of these countries often present the melancholy scenes of a peo ple badly lodged, clothed, and fed, and of public ways silent and deserted. The appearance of the English po pulation offers a remarkable contrast. In 1814, when the Allied Sovereigns visited the British Metropolis, and among the well-attired crowds, who followed their ' steps, recognised noise of that misery, so striking in their own States, they demanded of their attendants, where were the people? a homage the most- complimentary ever paid to the prosperous condition of England In l England the sea and numerous canals facilitate commu nications, and of all countries, it is the one where the roads are the most frequented. The English consume more provisions than all the rest- of Europe, with the exception of bread; and as one proof, we may instance their consumption of sugav, amounting to four hundred millions of pounds—whilst in France it scarcely reaches one hundred, and this in a population greater than that of England by one and a half. This difference of con sataptidn will sufficiently evidence and prove the diffe tent systems of economy practised in the two countries., I - , • it is officially detiarelby theEritisli Stinker, that Oe internal commerce and consumption is more important even than the external commerce; and what is the most ee. mailable is, that consumption, the source of the public wealth, annually increases in proportion to that wealth, without any prospect ofitS being liMited or arrested in its career. owing to the wise principles of the Adminis tration.. England, as well as other nations, can boast her literati; her statesmen, and her men of superior genies; but she alone possesses a population among which is extensively diffused the instruction necessary to enable it to form correctiudgment of men and matters;. to distin. guish that which tsprolltable and suitable; and to defe n d itself from that'which may hare an opposite tendency; ( To be continued.) POLICAtiVTELLIGENCE. ' GUILDHALL. A respectable young man *is charged with *Nanking a watchman E nd in Fleet-street. It appe * ed he was talking with his wife and sister, when Cerberus used language nut fi t to be uttered. The defendant then struck hinvand Was ednveyed to the watch-house. Alderman Wboa reprobated the toast* of Cerberus, observing that he himself op Fleet-street the same bight; and observed upwards of 100 moseksitans parading up and down under the very noses of the *Meissen, who connived at their improper behaViour. In the =eats an assaulthed been committed, he shook nevertheless the complaint, and leave the Phrill OiScer* to take it up if they chose. A ruffian named .kkissen,was . chargedwithattecking his mother, a very aged woman, with a pair of tongs; but on his eiprelsing contrition; the poor wothan' begged him off; and the Alderman discharged hitn on his osed retopisance, to keep the peace toward* bet fot six months. M AR LBOR OUG H-STREET. • dides Betts and Mary Ann, his wilt., in custody upon a charge of 1 461M1Ifing money under false pretences; by writing tenets and kind lier petitions; With fictitious descriptions of their distsesa and ander kegs to various Noblemen and Gentlemen,. were again .brought up 1 yesterday:a-Rad Spencer was in' attendance song after the Office opened; and the prisoners being brought• in, his. Gordship was sieromi, and stated, that the letter anclpetition produced, the fbr- Mee signed " Ann Morgan," and the latter a William Murray: , asst purporting to be euthentkated by " Josiah Rawley s A.M."' and the Overseers of the Parish in which the fire described in-it *as stated totavenskeer place,. were received by his Lordship ott the 2:141 inst. and, suspecting the trdth of the statements, he Wes. rid:both-letter and .petition to the . Mendicity , Society. One of the Overseers of the Paiiiirltere the fire was deactibed Indeeisetidon to hive taken phew. attended; aed produced a list of siginfiliftem by the fire spoken of, Id. which there were no suck nomeS as Murray , or Morgan; andithosignatures , to the petition, of the Itectnr and Overseers, were lotteries. Mt. Conan?, the Magistrate. sad that there was net sufficient evidence in this case to affect the Mile prisoner. AS for the woman, the had beet before in custody , bo a similar charge, and must have Mount the conseqoentee of what she was doing; the case was now so clear against her s - that she must be committed foe two months' to the House of Correction. Radlireniser who is a subscriber to almost every. charitable in. 'Station in Lo ndon, and well known for his philanthropy and he mane disposition, haa been, perhaps', mere than any other Noble. man, imposettipenibp such nefarioas phetices as those of the pri soners. His Ltedship, who woe just on the point of leaving town, withdrew immediately on the coneinsion of the examination. lie wore the blue riband of the Order of the Garter, and was accom ponied to the Oitae' by his third ion, the Hon. Captain Frederick Spencer, of the Navy, who has jolt returned from South America. • MA itir-LA-BONNE. lin, Yesteithir, Henry Perris, th e young, man cbargea with burglary the house of Thomas Lindsey Holland, Esq. Cornwall -terrace, Beguat's Farb, was again examined. 'The thiefi in endeavouring to lolatoin an entrance into the house, broke the flat part of the button bribe his coat, which was found in the area ; and on the prisoner being apprehended, Staples, the officer, on examining a blue coat of the prisoner's, one of the buttons behind was found broken, and the bit found in the area exactly hued the shank remaining on the ;chat, and this singular circumstance caused hii detention.—He was fully committed for trial. H A TTGN-G A R'DEN. Arra, was charged with Indecently atnickin g Elten drunoti and on her resisting, with stealing her shawl, in the passage between Bagnigge-wells and Grays Inn-lane. Road. A Bow-sweet Officer, Ilwaring the screams of the proaecutrix, stopped, and, aftir a stout resistance, secured the prisoner, who Was committed for the capi tal offence. - UN lON-HA LL. 1311geBNUAM lIIIRDIII4- I Yesterday Thomas Coombs, charged with the murder of Mr. Goodhart's gardener, was again brought up, for the examination of a further witness. The evidence given ap plied rather to robberies committed by the prisoner about the time of the murder, in the neighbourhood of Langley Parls, than to the fact of the murder. William Kingston, gardener to Joseph Warren, Esq. of Eltham, stated, that on the night of the £1 st of June, Mr. cteen's Is it house was broken open, and a thermometer and about a hundred weight of paper stolen. The thermometer produced was that stolen. This was the thermometer taken from the prisoner's lodgings. Coombs was asked whether be had any questions to put to the witness, or wi..hed to say anything for himself ? He appeared to be in a state of despondency, and said he had no questions to ask, nor anything• to say. He was again remanded, as further evidence is expected to be produced. There is a fair walnut crop this year, but good filberts are very scarce. When Foote was one day lamenting his growing old, a pert young fellow asked him what he would give to be as young as he? " I would be almost content,"said Foote," to be as foolish r HIGH Lirs BitLoW STAIRS.--A short time since a family arrived at Keswick, and took a furnished houst; they brought with them a Gentleman's gentleman, and a Lady's attendant. One day the party went out on an excursion to Stye Head, leaving these precious domes tics at borne. There was pldnty in the larder, but as it happened to be the remains of the former day, such woold not suit them. To the no small astonishment of the cook, they ordered her to dress a dinner of three courses. The butcher, the poulterer, and the fishmon ger, were all put in requisition, and the amount put down to the account of Mr. —. During the repast they condescended to take humble port, but with the dessert, the knight of the shoulder-knot ushered in a bottle of his master's claret, over which they whiled away the time until coffee was ready. The gentleman then proceeded with the lady to the lake, and rowed her himself to St. Hetbert's Island, to listen, amid its rhades, to the cooing of the stock doves, and softy*, and returned home just in time to receive the party, who, having excellent appetites from their rambles among the wilds of Borrowdale, were accommodated with the remnant of a cold round of beef for supper. DIED. Sept. 24, at the Parsonage Home, St. John's Wood, Regent's Park, aged 65, the Rev. G. Parke, formerly of Wadham College, Oxford, and Chaplain to his Majesty. Monday sennight, at Sedgwlck, Dear Kendal, Mrs. Atkinson, wife of Mr. John Atkinson, of the former place. She had just re turned from the garden into the house, when, without comphiut, she was laid prostrate on the boot a corpse. Al A 11.8.—T & sm. Dm 1 0 I 1 0 DAY. Dublin Waterford Guernsey sad Jerway 1 0 Lisboa 0 1 Holland 1 1 Jamaica 0 • •ilk DOZ. 1 0 Handburgit 0 2 Flanders 1 0 Brasile 0 0 Gattanbersii ' 0 0 America 0 1 Lawn : Printed avid litblished by Y. F. Kum , at di lux Onus, 2 o. 1, Matt-Place s Temple-B as. _ \ 1 ,_ : . ‘ 1 . - s ~ 0403 1 ' 'o* ..,1-' 1 _ ..... I -t` • . • els l ! .. di . ... ./ ' A ■ • IN ,~ ...:,y • ' 4g ',a . . dN trd 2.sti 'Teo w.l • T, ! I .lf, _ 1 A 1 '4l - I . ~ I. J~ 01'1 va'd Pa! it L Ya o !I I we pka W • 1 inn tail ra tbi 1111 tri Um WI MEN , a ~~ ;~ B I I 'C c C =r • t .c • c *I , ; . 4 ••4 .-1 -1 t• 1~ I I