The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-03-21 00:00:00

~ I FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRONI THE I P.ITFRE• --- LI:ITERS Of CVNITALI*T, ► 4711 LY L•14441 4 111D IN rIANCfp Tel ♦ . ). LUI4 MO% • No. I learn that the Parliament has again extended the Suirension of Payments in Specie by the Hank, be. cause, according to those who defend this measure with most ardour, r7v Courts of E.tieliali;•• i. not yet in ferule of ragla (I). This event being in its na ture caleulated to have a direct inthienee on my f o r . tone, iu con.sequeuce of the investments I have made in your public Funds, at a period when England secued to he the only place of safety for all the Ca pitols of Etrope. you will permit me to submit a few flees:ions to y uu, in order to your advising ne , what measures i shall adopt to avoid the embarrasse.l situ ation in which I find myself placed. If this disadvantageon, state of the Exchange is a reason for the Bank dispensing with its Payments in Specie, is it not to be feared that the same will case occur, wherever it shall he for the interest of the Rank? Besides, may not the Ban!: till(' an im mena: a :vantage in circulating its i;t!g, without being ob:iged to pay in Cash; particularly as the obiigatiun of paying in Cash is the only barrier which Can be opposed to the immoderate issue of Dills? This boundless facility has hitherto occasioned the amount of the bills in circulation only to be doubled (I.)—But what guar intee is there to the public that the quantity will not be augmented inde finitely, tinder difr.xent pretences, at the period when the question of paying in specie shall be submitted to Parliament ? They have, newly created a theory, expressly adapt( d to prove, that the greater is the embarrass meat ie. r;t to the scarcity of gold and silver, the greater i..itud:.! must be given to the circulation of parer ; and it is upon this principle things have procmded since the first suspension of the Rank (J). admire the extraordinary results which are pro tium(' from the combination of the contidence with the capitols, but as in th:s co.nbination there is a little n v 're credulity thao aaual property, I would not solely repose myself on stun a basis in future. Formerly, when an extraordinary demand for specie was manifes; J,,•the link opened a cofier more to yaw its biits, and it made every necessary sacritice in order to procure a sufficient quantity of gold to sa tisfy the public; such were the principles recom =cadet! by Smith,- by Stewart, and other enlighten ed minds who have explored the elements of credit. /sicw-a-days (that is to say, since the period 179,1, they preach new doaxine : all received ideas nrs• overthrown ; they substitute übstra speculations for fans drawn from the nature of things, and the boldest Innovatious find zealous partizans anion that class of men who, from their situation, know better how to appreciate the consequences of them; I mean among the Bankers of the first order, such as Messrs Thornton, Baring, &c. &c. and among the best-irtfarrned adniiristrators. But may not this proceeding, so extraordinary in itself, be the result • of some secret cause, mein- than the natural off ' opting of good sense? With respell to myself, C 1 will not say that I participate in the opinion of •' thane who think that the prolongation of the re f striftion of.pa)r:?!:: of mor,:y in specie is the eifea of :ieollusion between the Bank and the Minister, but I cannot avoid recognizing in that event an evi ient proof of the decline of that pittimmt of moral duty which is the corner-stone of all public credit (1). Zeturning to what concerns me particularly, as my ilinds are but small, and as unwilling to risque any thini—( I speculate at purchasing at a low price, and outata high one,) it appoars to me that the mo -1::-17' for rue to realise an advantage is arrived ; for I •!:•••cs that my confidence is a little shaken by all v. passec andaroference to myown affairs provi:s t•• are that I can at this moment sell out my stock ith re 11 advantage, since I bought in into the . • • per teat. Consols at 5'2, instead of 72 the pre • eat price ; which is an augmentation of .10 per I rat. --or primitive capital, adding to that I:: per ceat. which I gained by the difference of the Ex change, comparing the' rate of 29:9, at which I ilVe remitted to fi ,rn!'. , -!•!-, with that of 34 : at hich ern can make r. -1 irns to the same place calcullte that I I- , : !iise !in ach•anta,Te of :15 per cent. on any capital (.;.:, which is ton fair an or.. patunity for rue to suffer to escape in the hope of a better ; hive wlikh for my part I regard as very chimerical. In lift, your theory of Exchanges ad mits that their ride must ever depend on a return (1.)r1le pr :•1 the linage of P.vrs Febroary . impods lig tha: pi . :ntvitt.4 of the itilik id specie . ahou!d art int:: Id b: susifta.:4:l%.ll six vocki utter the uvxt 8:104ius1 oi Pry.' tint:ltt IClum the rfa:ed its prrinent in the month of iltebleory.l:97, it had in eirculativit but 11,(40,::53 rounds veritug in tills ; and nn the lft of Augoet, was 1 7,67 4 . ) ,1n0 wstuuts, cutift:tittibr, an ottutursitatiou ot ;Sam and 'this •at:gm:nt..t chi of 15.!!‘ onght to itrumire Ini t yrs of the N:m!: St . .chan augmentation raportionai to the antra %par to bed !fIVA En such err*:tas 9,000,C00 pounds, enyloy,il M dis.-otint :tag Rills of )lschange.e* in laird, intereA -at pot cc it. wit: 131 -, 4.i.tean escreale of 41,3,000 pomds per a:r whith ought to shared wait the 11.500,0'J0 run* ta the I/' ;gi;al praprietom of the ilalik, it is then root. to altd..:l to the ordinvy divalmd of the ;oirei a..4 as els riii • of the print ipal w ro.,;olated by theo , surtod produle, it that the ad Mimi of p.:r coat. ittr s• ad of 7 per cent. the anlitiary ditlkwl *to:dints:. the vane a: - the pdo i el , sit the proportion of 7ta 10 Toia i. the rem* of vie*, in which tha sens speion of paynvists in specie wit hm er - ic inokohle tt the No;tricti , ...4 of Blatt Stock., - (:f) It is eltJt. Ilict th-c monied own will tiui all 11,1,4 re,- -1:241: adeitheile.:•us. as long a; it rail la..t ; at the first re lIaTV ea s .iii.ted. Ili:: Liote, - the 341%a1it tge of • rt..* of thisegif..4 l'iorietors; io tae next ple..e, the .1. an fiti4 th proit in the e%t....:;;:011 it gives . 0,.,r affair., witete *he gri.at laritity with rie "link , 7.lsit; iNeat VI It ft at dim mat in nrla tar fac:l .t ;te the enc.*. 'atom and, la-fly, the Goveriiintint prahts fr ;*.; Cie geo..tal a.,:;Lt-nt„; tosults from ao amp;e a circ la•i•oi. (.: ) Ti. 4 entiment of moral duty among rt.ltiols, and tirin .l.i;;;ly hat regard t.) fate lxrsout rhu.R.v.ru, i , an tbsenral w.tiotrit croly theory ut cr,•tlit at 1. iinevai s.. I • ' ; bat •613.11 L)IILI ill 1.4 iitlneAt mat r•ta,a3i the ruin ideal be . . - troie v.i;v, and it is then % erV Vile importance whether the circulating medium eon et poem a: gold. The cotninerei..l traiNictiong may be VVOI4 .aity eau:Walt:lig by lobo' ; for banks of known :.tot eita ' ilidic . l credit would, ate their ttuti4cri, sup ply the leii • e of en.ttey, a; well a; 11 our real subatatitial sign, it yoli.it it rnieot. (5 ) c.rts!terro.ise to the f,vourible balance of the tommer:o of Si7,4i..st, litany foo-a:Loi rations should ed u pt siruilsr lgilliUn Of te4lvztue whiehrug. Lod h3vd r.ire;r.sl ur s:questered, it will rend.l poor than thus the national ricliws will Is• di :pion:Nit • t;es si.ot atone half tithe capital which to r.lgoe.:s shah have l!nt turhig three of Wu: senr•, ttltot it will cu" op nation to pay fute l tn 'be I cilia kJ, ois A:l6.a is Jar hi . . • . . • mort-rOcti ..bund.iati tot if A ., :11 are obliged to draw $ or 10 millions for grain from abroad, ae you did in the years WO and Itlol, the balance of commerce will be by some millions against you, and your Exchange will be proportionably reduced. (1;4 You may observe, that my mods:, of reasoning is nut distinguished by aperity or systanatic spirit of oppositiou, fur I might say that the e::pences you will be obliged to make for your importations will he much more considerable than they have been, since yon will be obliged to have them from the ,Baltic, which cannot afford to give you grain at the same price you formerly had it from Belgium k there will be the difference of a higher price of freight, the difference of paying larger . sums in advance, and a hgher rate of insurance. Ano ther permanent cause of the possible degradation of your Lxrhange is, your immense national debt, which, as it is partly the property of foreigners, renders it necessary to make continual remit tances abroad for payment of the interust.—Fur ther, if the spirit of imitation—if the desire of profiting by the present high price of the Funds shouldinduce your creditors symontancously to withdraw their Capitals, endangered by the new system adopted in England, in such case, there is no g •otmd for ascertamta:: to what extent the de preciation of you! Exchange may go, and the his tory of paper-money offers a sad example of the progress of a depreciation founded en fear, or pro daced by flOse measures ; for even, when by means of your Bank, with the aid of an extraordinary re striClion in the discounting bills, which will oblige your merchants in order to raise Funds to send an extraordinary quantity of merchandize to the Con tinent, you will, for some weeks, raise the rate of Exchange above the limits which the habitual state of things prescribes to it—you will assuredly come in contaia with some foreign Bank, which by opera tions of a (lima opposite nature wi7l ronnteraa your alsomentaneous appeal to the monied interest of the Continent, and will reduce the rate of Exchange to its natural limits. (b.) The balance of commerce in favour of Earlalll during the last year :4 ebiling in 1800, anionins to Ci0,310/,8501. IA tog All average for each year of about 6,000,0001 r.tris, M A ECM 1(i. ACTS OF 'UHF. COVFINNIF.SI'. The Government lul the ;:epnliiie, upon the re port of the Minister of the Interior, decrees as fol lows : _ _ The provi; 7 .ens of the Decree of the 12th of March, which prohibits the exportation of specie, are emendcd to every kind of ariicle in go:d (Signed) BONAPARTE, First Consul. The Moniteur also contains a Decree for the Con rocatien of the Elearral College of the Department of the Seine, on the Ist GermUial, 11th year, (March el,) and the Fiisr Comm. has appointed bro ther, LrcrtN BONAPARTF, to preside in the Electo ral College of that Department. The journal du Commerce contains an article on the present posture of atrairs, the ohjeft of which is to bestow all the credit of efle6ting the peace upon the French :—and this event, so erdently de sired by all Europe, is now, in the opinion of the writer, obscured by his Majesty's message The armaments in the French ports are defended on the ground, that the restoration and aFti city of the French and Dutch marine ought to demand the prhwipal attention of their Governments; while the extension of their military force is asserted to be a necessary consequence of their increase of terri tory. in short, France is said to have as ;treat a right to arm against this country, because our super abundance of ships has not been destroyed since the peace, as we have to complain of those measures which they may adopt for the security of their own possessions ; because there is no difference between requiring the redu6ion of an existing fore, and attempting to hinder the formation of one that is necessary. 46 But England," observes this svr!ter, 4 , is overwhelmed with an enormous debt, and would wish to make us pay its interest, or even eiquidate the capital, by means of a treaty of commerce, ar ranged according to its own plan. There may, per haps, be some kindness in the wish to crake us dupes : we think, however, that Europe has no more right to take us for cowards, than the has to consi der us as fools.—For after having proved vktorious by arms, and after condueling negociations . with so much skill, foresight, firmness, and greatness of mind, it must be supposed that the Government which has performed such great events has very speedily degenerated, if it would indirealy consent to pay the expences of a war, which was made upon it s people, and to furnish the means for its renewal. Bat there is a time when Governinente, like iadi videals, must a:t with jus ice, and consent to reco ver, by ;heir own means, from their embarrassment, however great k may be, into which they have vo htetarily tailen ; otherwise they rue: expeS to find themseives in a situation still more ditagereable." The Tribunee has a,lopred, by a majority of 54 to three, the 4:11 Title tithe Civil Code which relates to Abeeuh'es. DUTCH MAIL. R6TVERIOAM, MARCH' 15. The news of an approaching rupture between England and France, has occasioned a great. con sternation in our commer.cial world. It is indeed but too tine, that the English are preparing for the worst. however, if the apprehensions of the British Government ar. , piweb; excited hy the preparations maki:z in the sea-poets of France and Holland, we do no, these to be font:id:o)le enough to excite suspicion : nor is there much reason to stip. pose that the Colonial e:l)editions are destined iOr any other than the purpose given otst, where brrrafkrtla y may he of more disservice to England than in the • evont of being employed at home against. her. It . is more prehai)le that England seizes this pzetence • of arming, in order to accelerate the pending' ne gotiations : for it is well k uown that it has' long been the plan of the Ft - each Government to keep the English in uncertainty and alarm, without se riously meaning to strike a blow. The appropriate ; time for this is not yet arrived. All the holders of West India produce refuse • to sell : and though CuTee is not demanded, the prices .continue firm. Sugars remigin as before.. Rice is somewhat lower, and is noted at 78s. ClO verseed is now dull. Gin is lower, and dial: Lon don Proof is noted at 1:41. Coals are got up to SO f. per hd. and they are expected higher. Of se veral $911.5 of English dyed goads, dim is a sarcity. LONDON, MO:':DAY, MARCH Ct. Several of the Ministers left tnwn on Saturday, and arc not expeeted to return until a late hour this day. This, though not a decisive circumstance, affords at least a presumption, that ao important in telligence from France was expeeed in the interval. To.morroir, according to some, the FIRST CONSUL'S answer, upon the points in question, may be looked fr. tut will the an ;•.-. er, when it does come, be :hal and - decisive ? The public are of opi niol, that it will not.—The FIRST CONSUL was totally unprepared kr the present crisis: he has had time to consider his course, and will, probably, enthavour to draw bis country into a protracted . negetiati.A.—This is the state of all others the most advantageous for France, and the most disadvan tageous for England. Should we be led into it, it will he a departure from the course to which our first step was directed. Important discustions, we arc told, are subsisting between the two countties, and great military preparations are making in the ports of France and Holland. These arc thing: that must have been long known to Ministers. They did not rise suddenly, and come by surprise. --To influence the one, or ro,ist the other, required .u!ditional measures of vigour and precaution on our part, and this end might have bee.• attained without exciting a sudden panic and alarm.—But the condu& of our Govern ment was that of men, who feared a sudden and immediate danger, and were determined to bring it to a speedy issue. A fortnight, however, has elapsed and nothing decisive has been d, ne. The conti nuance of preparations stews, tha; tht fear of hosti- I 1 • lities is not yet dissipated, while private account; from France, and the public feeling at home, encon_ rage us to hope, that the storm will blow over, and leave us in possession of a tranquil and settled peace The latter sentiment is the prevailing one, and it gains strength every day. Among several favourable circumstances, it may be sufficient to state, that se veral officers now in town, belonging to the ti3d Regiment, which is onforeign service, received orders to repair to Hilse:t barracks, in order to join their Regiment, but these orders were countermanded on Saturday. Accounts received by the Imogene, state, that the Cape of Good Hope was in our possession on the 3d of January, in consequence .. of orders sent out to retain it. These orders were issued in October last, at the time when a rupture was apprehended on account of Switzerland, but some persons fear that after that cloud had passed away, fresh orders true sent oat to our troops to evacuate that irri portaat station.—This, 11 % lwever, is but a weak sur mi.se. We yesterday received Paris Papers of the 16th, but none of them, except the yotirnal de Connnercr, takes any notice of the present .state of affairs be tween this country and France. Its observations are, however, of a vague and general nature. The only interesting article which we find in them, is under the title of Letters from a Capitalist, re. cently established in France, to a Banker in Lon don, upon the stoppage of the Bank, and the course of the Exchange. The article appears in all tke Paris Papers ; and from the manner in which it i; .et out, and the praise bestowed upon it, the Edi tors evidently attach to it some importance. We cannot pass by this circumstance v. ithout noticing the new line which the French Journals seem to be pursuing, With uniformly encreasing ardour. Ever since the peace, but particularly since the last flou. rishing statement of our finances, every French Pa per that arrives brings some attack upon the finances of England, or some eulogy upon those of France'. The Publiethe of the 15th, contains some mfiections not inapplicable to this subja.d. Alluding to the late voluminous financial reports detailed in supplements to the official paper, it says" The public eaposi tions of these things were formerly concealed with so much mystery, that it was a crime to divulge them, and foreign . powers spared nutting to ob taia a knowledge of them. '‘‘ c therefore gave them, if not as a new thing, at least as an important no velty with us." A Dutch mail, arrived on Faturday, has brought intelligence, that the hostile aspeet of affairs in this country has made a very unfavourable impression upon the funds. A report was propagated on Saturday, that an embargo was laid upon all the English vessels in the ports of France.—lt was an event that might be expected, but we La_ieve it did not rest upon any certain intelligence. - -- The dispatches for Fort St. George and China, by the Wexford, were finally 'closed at the East-In dia House, on Saturday, and delivered to the Pur ser. PASSF.NCERS. Wm. Evatt Wright, Factor; Lieut. Wilson Ferry hotiqh ; Melim A. DoogLis Stewart, G. Anticrsou, Assistant Sor;;tenis. Lieut. Cul. Core, of 3Sd Regiment, and Lady. Lieut. Orrork, ut Garr gegnaent, and Lady. 11. Forward, J. Grant, D. Dandai Hamiltim, H. M. Coop2r, W. P. Cunningham, J. T. P. Fraser, C.F. Finch, W. 11. Fielder, J. Rtit;sell--Cadets. Mr. 'enemas coalyto Agent to the Plellippine Company at Manila. Yesterday, about two o'clock, two carriages be longing to the Train of Artillery from Woolwich, arrived on the parade, in St. James's Park, with pro per implements for removing the much-talked-of torty-eight pounder, from the depot, to the spot where the brass gun has been for a number of years. Eight pieces of artillery, on Friday, arrived at Canterbury from Woolwich : eight more were yes terday to follow. Saturday a person in Maryhone, named Wellings, who has contraCted to famish draught-horses to Go vernmeat on the present armament, sent off 150 to Plymouth. Upwards of 1000 are to be forward ed to the Southern coast in the course of the coming week. The Commissaries are busied in establishing stores at various places on the coast. Encampments are to be formed, as soon as the Militia are organized, in the maritime counties{ Lord Colts %rat Lis, it is said, in the event of a rap? tore, will command in the Ea.a.tern Distrid. Bar ham Downs is to be the Head-Quarters of the Kent 13istrid. Lord MOIRA, Generals LAKE, MOORf., COOTE, and others, are, by report, nominated to cc mmands. The Ocean, Henry Addington, Lord Duncan, end Cattle Edin Indiamen, arrived at the Cape early in January, from England, having troops on board for India: but General Duanas, conceiving the nature of the service to justify the measure, had caused the troops to debark, in order to reinforce the garrison, which, by this means, has been rendered fully competent to its defence. The Imogene lift S. Helena on the 17th of Ja nuary, at which time the Northampton, from Bengal, Britannia, General Stewart, and Admiral Aplin, from Madras, had arrived there, qru were to sail for England on the C I st, under convoy of a frigate. Private letters from Constentieople say, that pro posals have been made, on the part of France, to establish Peench garrisons in Turkey, in order to enable the Porte to support its power. Press -warrants have been sent to all the ports in Ireland, and a multitude of seamen have been thus obtained. Saturday and Sunday se'nnight a consi derable numb er were procure d in the harbour of Dublin. Similar measures ate pursued in the other ,ports of 'lreland - - ' • • The premiums of insurance here are considerably ,advanced. In the Stocls there is little doing. Yesterday in Amsterdam Batavian Rescriptionq were nomi at 6111 a 1; to-day they were offered here at 66, but no one would give more than 66 . : per cent. VIENNA, rEs, 24. It has been remarked here, as It singular circum stance, that the Danube•, in the distriers of the Stru dal, has been frozen up this winter for the first time these 184 years. Paswan Oglu is at present at variance with the Paella of Nicopolis ; and disputes have a.!;,en so high, that Paswan Ov . lu has dispatched some thou sands of troops who have partly taken their march through Wallachia ; and in consequence of which it has been falsely report.'d, that Paswan Oglu had again attacked that province. • The Grand Duke of Tuscan• will depart in the course of a few .days for Dresden, to visit his in tended consort, the Eleaoral Princess of Saxony. rEanumtv A projet has been proposed, by the Financial.lle partment, fur the institution of a public bank, with a capital of millions, in which all future pay ments for the bankers and considertiJle merchants, may be made by way of transfer, on depositing ready-money: from: various causes, however, this plan hat; been discountenanced. BERN, SI ARCH 9.. Citizen d'Aftry, Landamman of Switzerland, ar rived bete yesterday from I)..ris, under die firing of the guns from our ramparts. Immediately after his arrival, he visited Citizen Dolder, and yesterday morning the French Central Ney gave a breakfast is his honour. In the afternaon he departed for Fri burg, whither, in pnr,uance of Lis orders, the ar chives of the Helvetic Government will be imme .diately transported. As soon as Citizen Affry ar ivcs there, the French garrison will evacuate that city. MILAS, FEB. 21. We have just learnt that NIT.. Busi has been at Naples, from whence he embarked on the 13th fur Messina in Sicily, where he was to wait upon the Chevalier Tomasi, the new Grand Master of Malta, to present him with the Patent of his Holiness which confers on him that high dignity. Mr. Drummond, hitherto the British Minister at the Court of the King of the Two Sicilies, was on the eve of setting out for Naples, on board the fri gate Medusa, in order to replace Lord Fight, as english Ambassador at Coastantinople. 'I he fate of Tuscany does not app'...ar to be as vet definitively decilcd. There is much tali: of a new arrange ment, by virtue of which the King of Sardinia is to receive the city ancT principality of Sienna, which forms two-fifths of Tuscany, and the King of Etru ria is to have in return the Duchy of Parma. By means of this plan, that is, by thus satisfying the claims of his Sardinian Majesty, the cession of the island of Sardinia to England will be prevented, a cession, respeling which it is still asserted, ne go;iations have been entered into. These arrange ments are countenanced and supported by France, on condition that his Catholic Majesty delivers up to that power the two Floridas, which are contigu ous to Louisiana, and separated from the Spanish possessions on the continent of America. 'lime alone can bring the truthof these reports to light, but they prevail too generally at present to be wholly over looked. vERONA, Frl. 18. The movements of the French troops towards the ports of the Mediterranean, have a reference to the island of Malta, which they will, doubtless, endea vour to retake, if matters should not be accommo dated. TPEATRE-ROrilL, DRURT-LANE. TILLS EVENING w:11 he pfe- , ented the Traeudy of KING RICHARD .THE THIRD. King Rit,l.,:rd the Third, by Mr, COOPER, b.ing tns First A;ittearauce in that Cilatit:t:•r. Kim; hlenry the Sixth, Mr. Wiling:non ; Prince of WAN, M.ibie: Chattel-ley Doke of York, Mix Kelly ; 11-ic:cinghain, Mr. Itayniuml; Norfolk, Mr. Richmond, Mt C. KeinWe; M. Sparkl; T.--:;el, Mr. De Cmnp. Quszu, r•lrs. Pow .11; 1.11, Anus, (first tuna) Mrs. Anie wlityli will be Ailed, DON JUAN. The IP.iblic arc most resilectfully informed, that the Tinged y of Pir-trii is in pr;:daraticw, and will be prodweed OIL Monday, the Fitli iustatit. THE BRITISH PRESS.• INL-- ~v -. I. . I