The Sun. — London, England, 1819-05-28 00:00:00

LITERARY REVIEW. All ADDPESS: to the PUBLIC on the PLAN proposed by the sEcRET COMMITTEE of the HOUSE of COMMONS, for cxateioillg the AFFAIRS of the BANK.—By EDWARD ( OOKE, L'q. Above is the molest Title of a very small Pam phlet of very great importance to the most pres sing ii‘terests of the whole British Empire. Its Au thor is wtll known to his Countrymen. as Otte of - Mr. PITT'S Colleague-Statesmen. ile distin guished himself greatly timing many years prior to, in, and after, the periods of the Rebellion of 1798. lie was also one of the chief promoters of the Union. Ile. was their in 'the situation of Secretary for Irish Affairs ; and, doting 00 in consirltristile period of our late contest with France, filled the Office of Under Secretary of State tor the War and Colonial Departments, rents unquestioned ability. Thus inut:la we pre- Wise, to impress the Reader with our own con-r. viction, that he will discover throughout this biief Publication, only the soundest and most States man-like %keys, grounded on a lock of facts, ren dered plain and cor»prehensible to every oue•— ln addition to the Title by which Mr. COOKE has thought fit to designate hisimemorial, he should r d, o , in justice to himself, have added " the real cause of the high prices of all the necessaries and luxuries of life and of bullion, the imniittent tionger of forcing a return to Cash Payments by the Bank, and the expediency of some new arrange ment of the Currency." When we astute our Readers that all these topics ate adequately dis cussed in the compass of 70 pages, they must infer that it would require the powers of no common mind, t h us to condense matter, which, for so great a number of years, has baffled the efforts of all our Politicians, and now threatens the Commercial, Agricultural, and Landed lute rests, which have borne us triumph a tidy through the horrors of an Unprecedented and Revolution ary Warfare, with almost immediate destruction. Not that we apprehend (though we cannot but feel anxious) actual Ruin ; for we think with the Author of a little Pamphlet, published in 1812, eat itled Hints to all Classes on the State of the Country, at this momentous crisis," that it never will be actually ruined, unless tire middle class of Society is annihilated ; and, while th , st is nut the case, this Class will, on any great emergency which really calls forth the energies r. the People, FURNISH VIRTUE AND ABILITY SUFFICIENT TO RESCUE THE COUNTRY FROM EVERY IMPENDING DANGER. It appeals that in the eloquent and ingenious, ra ther than able, discussions of this matter in both Houses of Parliament, the speakers all studirmsly avoided noticing Mr. Secretary COOKE'S powerful facts and 'arguments, because, bad they done so, they must have refuted them, which seems to us impossible. Mr. PEEL, indeed, alluded to them, but it was so slightly that he had better have omitted the notice altogether. For our own parts, e have delayed entering on the inexhaustible theme, from a belief that the wisdom of Parliament would have thrown such new lights upon it, that all further consideration would have become unnecessary ; but we confess that we retire from the deliberations of our great' 'ational Councils merely in state quo ante, and therefore consider it as our duty to submit our lamp-light reveries to the country. it is oow of necessity-admitted that Gold, as a commodity, is variable in its relative value at market ; yet the Committee and the Legislature say to traders ill it, '' if you want to boy Gold, you may .buy it now at the price of 4!. 13. under a certainty, for it is to be rendered certain by en actment, that you shall only be able to sell it at a twilit! period at 3!. - is.„10(1.'! Now this' is a view every shopkeeper can understand. " What, (tie will say,) buy at 4/. IS. to sell at 3/. 17s. 10d. !" '1 his is the effect of Gentlemen legislating for practical 'T raders. As we wish to follow our Author's admirable example, we will endeavour to compress this ar ticle as much as its importance will permit, and with that view we will extract his proofs without corying the details on which they are founded. 0.4 ex-official Author, in reference to the 'colon of his Pamphlet on the high price of Gold, says— • , " I therein described the tine nature of the standard of our gold coin, unikr the law and the royal prerogative. " I proved, that the rise in the price of Gold could not be attributed to an excess of Batik Notes in circulation ; as the a4munt of our circulation was extremely deficient in compa tison with the proportional circulation before the.war. " I suggested, that the increased price of-Gold Bullion, as the increased price of all other commodities, arose from oar augmented taxation. I demonstrator(, that any reduction of the quantity of our currency, by increasing its value, would proportionally in crease tf,e rabic and pressure Or our tau,s, and thereby pre vent any decrease of prices, Which such a measure might seem to promise. . . _ I pointed out the evils which were to he apprehended, and ,Which are already in a degree felt, front the reduction of th, amount of our currency, and that further rednetions could only lead to stagnation of credit, and deo ease of acs i= city, and to genetat non-production. Arid in order to prevent these evils, which apparently must follow front a scarcity of currency, suggested that the hest/hie for the country to pursue, Was to Allow the course 01' thn market, and, under wise regulations, to enable the Bonk of 4'nbriaurt to tlLychutere their Notes ,AT ALL TIMMS, in gold, at nuirket price. " According to the line which my duty pointed . out, I caused my suggestions to be conveyed to the members of the Committee, in order that, before their ultimate decision on the great questions before them, the value of such sugges tions, it atiy, might be appreciated." Couid any conduct have been more liberal, more pAtrioitc than this ? Has the resqlt proved that tic value ot his suggestions" has been" sp - p rec i,ded ?" Yes ; they have been appreciated by the practical, the commercial, the mottled, the rradme, and the manufacturing interests ot the metropolis, loiwever disregarded by the wisdom ot the Secret Committees and those who are about to legislate sun their recommendations. It may be worth while to account for the ilis regal d shewn to suggestions so rational, and coming trout a quarter of such high authority.--- 'I hose %eh() lead in the Committees and in the Par liamentmy discussions which have taken place on the Bank Restriction, &c. seem, for the most part, to have formed in their mindscertaio systems which they hove adopted with all the enthusiasm, of pa rental tolidlicli and absurdity, and one couse yie.ice is, that all their views have a tendency ratntr to establish their own theories, than to as certain, impartially, what will be the best measure ex , rwaie the Country front its difficulty. :the d c ky, ut publications no the subject, trop * It is stated in the Iteptitt, that the Bank desire the re pftywcilt of these 10 million's, lout this request seas founded on the suppt.sitifin that they were to apply large aulus for accu mulatiog 1 - Tust.'isanti downwards, for a great number of years, Hod the leiracity of their writers to the m ost ri,licololi s assumptions, sufficiently prove Ihe accuracy of this censure.—'.Lo continue our Author— " It appears from the Report of the Committee, that, pre vious to the ite,lricti9ii Act, there were in circulation :30 mil 'loos of Gold Coin, and in or 11 !trillions of Bank Notes. Of this s'um, the Bank piresse:,l in deposit ;thorn 5 or ti millions, by which their Notes were payable. remaining 25 mil lions had peen gradually, from time t 9 time, hrou4lit into rirenlar ion by means of the Merchants, who had carried Cie Bullion they had imported thr.ruji the b rlairee of trade to. the Mint, and had received the aitioant thereof a•zain in corn Thus unr iteLve ci culatiou Coilsliteii of 10 millions of Bank Notes, and 15 rtiiiinuK of tiold Goiti.bio(tglit into the minket by the Merchants for public and commercial convenience. When the demands of the war, panic at hmoe, and the eon tiurntal system, drove all the gold Color from circ,rlatioott, it became the duty of Governmelo,t to provide a sulistitute bur what I may call the free and commercial portion of the coin- They a.ccordingly persuaded the Bat:`, to make issues of ,Bank Notes in exchange fur Exchequer Bills, which were too remain in &Tacit at the Bank. The quantity of this nein,- sit has varied at different times, and amounts now, as slated by the Report, to 19,438,0001. though, in order to equal the quantity of gold coin taken out of the market, it ought to amount to 25 millions. ...... '• The portion of the circulation originating with the Bank, and dependent upon it, before the Restriction Acts, was 10 or 11 millions. Of this sum, they annually advanced to Go rernu►ent 3 millions on the Land and Malt, and the retnaiii der was circulated by discounting commercial bills. it ap pears, however, from the Report, that other considerable. advances were made by the Bankio Government, from 1790 to 1797; but always within the amount of the Notes out standing. '• What then is to be the state of things under the new plan ?—t he circulation since 1797 having been reduced from above 40 millions of Coin mid Bank Notes, to near 25 millions, the amount of Bank Notes at present in the market, the Bank are to have the controul of from 15 to 16 millions of this sum ; add the tree circulation, independent of the Bank, - is to he reduced from 19,433,0001. to 9,000,000 L " The whole amount of free circulation, independent of the Bank, by resorting - to which the commercial body gained a large part of their accommodations, and which prevented a partial and monopolizing spirit in the Bank Directors, and which amounted before the sear to 23 millions, and amounts now only to 19,43R,C001. is to be reduced to about 9 millions. When so small a portion is thus to be left free, it is impos sible to expect that a merchant can procure any accommoda tion at all, hut at the Bank ; and the Bank will have the a - solute commakd of the whole' commercial body, GUI d Muir whole transactions, without competition or appeal. " Distressing and degrading as this transfer of power most he to the commercial body at large, it must render the Bank itself a continued object of suspicion and odium. Why are these to millions to be repaid the Bank • ? What is the ob ject ? It is, as specifically stated, to give the Bank a greater control!' over their issues and discounts, so as to enable them to regulate the diminution of the paper currency in such a manner as to effect, with gi eater celerity and certainty,, the object of the Committee, viz. - -The apparent redaction of the price of Gold Bullion ; but iii reality to increase the value of Bank Paper. " The Bank, if they consent to this new scheme, will be placed in the most invidious and responsible light possible. On the one hand possessing the entire and absolute einitroul of commercial accommodation, they will he eon/bluntly pressed to increase their issues according to the growing wants and just claims of the commercial aody :on the other hand, they will he found bo the new data to he imposed on them by Parliament, to confine their issues to the mere varia tions in thi: price of gold, and to facilitate the purchase of bullion. " Under the great principles of their Institution, their pre dominant arid primary duty is to maintain public credit. in crease the circulation, and to provide for the demands of growing trade and prosperity. By this novel measure, these great objecrs are to be considered by them of inferior and secondary importance, and the sole object of their manage ment, in future, is to he confined to raising the value of Bank Notes by reduction of currency, and to the imports. lion of bullion from. abroad. If in the progress of the peti posed system, the price of gold should rise, whilst vomiter cial distresses and demands increase at home, in what a perilous and odious predicament will they be placed ! It they listen to the demands of the commercial body, over W 11099 welfare they are to have an entire controul, they may' be forced to disobey the injunctions of Parliament, and he.made amenable to the House of Commons fur disobedience of the law. If they should feel themselves obliged to ob e y the law, which they may imagine to be peresoptorY, they may be forced to reject the bi/l. of the best established houses, and de , strut/ the credit and fortunes of the most respectable firms t and bring 04 a train of most unmerited bankruptcy b y a re luctant, but what they may deem a necessary, obedience to power. , " The object. of the merchant is the quantity of the whole currency, not the quantity which the Bank can controul. Whilst there is a sufficient quantity In the market, the mer chants can gain discount froin,the Bankers, &c. as easily as from the Bank, and they naturally prefer a competition against the Bank, in order to secure them against the possi bility of partiality: but, when mice the monopiily of dis counts is centered in the Bank, every merchant who Wa n ts accommodation is made a stove to what be may either truly of falsely conceive to be the prejudice, or the caprice, or the oeff-interest if the Court of Directors. •‘ When by the unparalleled circumstances of the late war, and the extraordinary demands or Government, these 25 millions were banished from circulation, the Government, in justice and gratitude, were botind to find them a substitute. The Government has found them a substitute to the amount of 19 millions, by the means of Exchequer Bills. Is it au act of. good faith and justice to rob them of ten millions of this sum, and by so doing to deliver their propel ties and transac tions into the sole dominion of the Bank, who are to be en joined to consider their interests, not, as formerly, of primary concern, but as a matter of secondary arid subordinate curt- i sideration ? " And this alarming measure is not to be carried into ef fect impene without loss: the public are to pay a considerable bonus to the Bank fur accepting this 4,dious monopoly. At present the Bank do not receive from Government three and a half per cent. on the average, for the Exchequer Bills they hold: if they issue their amount again itt4i•coupt to the pub lic, they will gain five per cent. or an addition of one and a half per cent., that is, 160,0001. a year on the ten millions so taten from the free circulating medium. "'The next process is, that on the Ist of February next the Bank should, on demand, pay their Notes in bullion, at 41. Is 6 per ounce, till the October followimro—from October to May, M2l; at 31. 19s 6d. per ounce;—and ou May, 1821, at Mint price ; and that in 1w years from that period, pay ments in coin should be iesumed. The real and,sole proposition brought forward, whatever be the colour by which it is varnished, whatever the mask by which it is di s guised, is this, and this only :=That the Bank shall he obliged and forced to pay its Notes at mint price no. minutia, at market price really, on the first of May, 1811. " Tile decision on this point is to he final, not contingent upon circuurstanCes, not limited by t exard to the distress of our trade and monufastutes, or the decay of revenue,—not susceptible of variation, not liable to revision;—it is to be considered, if carried into a law, as the matured, consum mate, and ultimate mandate of Parliament. " To secure this sole object, the Bank arc to be employed in the purchase of bullion, in order to fill their coffers with treasure; and in the gradual reduction of the circulating me dium for the purpose of raising its • value to the market price of Gold. "-Here then is a system of coercion and force, in order to bring Bullion to the Bank, and raise the value of Bank Notes : now I beg leave to submit a question, whether on the supposition, that by contracting the circitlating medium, and by forced purchases of bullion, Bank Notes van be raised to the exchange-price of Gold, and Gold Bullion be collected to a great alumna in the Bank :—whether 'on this supposition, it will he necessary, in order to preserve that high value iu Bank Notes, and to keep the Bullion within the kingdom, to continue the system of restricted issues, which shall have produced this result? The ordinary maxim is, cessante causa, tollitur effec , Will the Committee maintain on this subject the atintrary conclusion, and assert, cessante cause, manebit tf fectos ?" "'They are driven to this dilemma, either that the system of a contracted circulation, which they enjoin, is to he con tinued for ever; or that Gold, when brought into the coon try by forced measures and forced purchases, against the na tural tendency of the market price, will, after all coercive measures shall leave been withdrawn, steel continue iu the home market, not withstandin,c its natural tendency to the contrary? But whoever should venture en such an as sertion must he equally ready to argue, that if you force up water from a low to a high level, you may then Sc- cureiy draw up the sluices which separate them; because the water, when once separated hy force into the high level, will lose its descending propensities, and fix itself by a new na ture in the high level to which it is forced. if then, what the. Committee may effect by force can only be maintained by force, let the public reflect that the measure they are about to take is perpetual : if it is not perpetual, it is utterly sense less. " Having stated a leading, unanswerable, and irremove t►hle objection to the plan of the Committee, ors account of its being founded upon and administered by a system of force, I shall submit some other objections of not less cogency. " It is an unprecedented innovation. It is regulating the currency—not by a fixed denomination of value given to legs coin as at present—but by the varia)le price of gold bullion which is a mere commodity. It is perpetual delusion, per. petual vaedlation, und e r the mask of perpetual identity. Gold may shift in price, as it does from day to day ; but t he nominal price is, under this innovation, ever to be the same , because it i± to be kept at au uniform price, by varying the amount of 'Currency. If gold rises, currency i s to be dimi nished: if gold falls in price, currency is to be increased. " The 2nd vice of this system is, t h at as the price of gold depends ICS3 on the circumstances of the home market, than sin those of the foreign market, this measure will make the `quantity of our currency, and the accommodation of our merchants, dependant not on their own wants and interests ) but on the wants and interests of foreigners. " The 3rd vice is, that it limits the currency by the price of one article alone, and nut by the wants of the nation, and the amount of its income. " 4th. That by forcing up the value of Bank Notes from representing the Mint price to represent the market price of gold, it alters the whole state of value throughout the Em pire in all its relations. " Suppose the market price of gold 5 per cent. higher than the Mint pi ice, which Bank Paper represents, what would be the effect of such a measure ? " 1. An addition in value of 40 millions to the capital of the funded debt. " s. An addition of 1,500,0001. a-year to the interest of the debt. " 3. An addition of 2,500,0001. a-year to the taxes.i " 4. A change in the value of all contracts to the amount of 3 per cent. " 5. Throng!) the operation of our taxes upon prices, there would,be no corresponding change in borne prices, nor in the prices of our goods abroad, as their price would be measured, as now, by Ike prices of Gold Bullion alone. " No co yntiy ever founded its coin or currency upon the market price of gold—but all nations have regulated their currency by a fixed price or rate of value attached to the coin, as has been the invariable practice of our ancestors. The Plats of the Committee is an unprecedented innovation ; for by it, though the market price of gold may be always called by the Mint price denominations, the value of our current!) , being hereafter to be denoted by its quantity alone, it will be in a state of perpetual fluctuation, in order to preserve the delusion of market price. " if this new plan be framed upon true scientific princi ples, it must act uniformly well under all circumstances, and the pheuumetia, in all circumstances, will agree to the theory. " I find then from :792 to 1797, Gold was at Mint price, Lot Bank Notes varied from about 8 millions to 13 millions. Here then Gild admitted a variations of 5 millions in Bank Notes, without being affected in price at all. 1 find Gold iu 1808 and 1803 was at 51. 55. an ounce, and Bank Notes amounted to 16 or 17 millions. " I then find that in 1817 and 1818, Gold was at 31.1 9s. and 31. las. au ounce, and that the amount of Bank Notes was about 27 millions; and. the Committee state, that unless the Bank had acted injudiciously, the price of Gold would have been at Mint price. " Here then we hind that Gold may be at Mint price, when only 8 millions of Notes arcin the market; and may be also at Mint price when there are 27 millions of Notes in the market; and also that Gold may be at 51. ss. an ounce, when there are 17 millions of Notes in the market. _ " Thus, either 8 millions or 27 millions of Notes equally produce 31. 17s. 10,1 d. an ounce; and 17 millions of Bank Notes pioduce 51. Es. an ounce. Is it upon these phenomena that the new theory has been constituted ? that the policy nut only of our ancestors, but of all civilized states is to be rejected? and are we to be placed under a novel system, which is to he followed by perpetual fluctuations, without any sensible criterion for forming those fluctuations, or any possible scale for adjusting them ? Merely became some in genious gent leaven insist, that Gold is Gold, and that Gold is the universal equivalent, we are to embrace this new theory .in defiance of a set of phenomena which covers it with Con tradiction and ridicule. We are, it seems, to Ex the market price of Gold, and to calculate from day to day the value of the currency by the amount of its quantity; which 1 consi der just as ingenious an expedient as an invention for ascer taining the variations of the wind by fixing the weathercock! " It I have shewn a few of the objections to what the Cum mitte.e have done, I may now proceed to observe on what they have not dune. In•the first place, they have not adverted to those bold and unproved assertions with which the town has been pes tered, that our currency is depreciated, and depreciated by excess of Issues.' I s he Committee bliaks,t he subject, though it refutes, those rash, assertions by a side-wind proof. The amount of currency is now 25 millions : previous► to the Re striction Act the Committee state it at 40 millions. " Nothing can be more ingenious than the crane-neck turns of the Bullionists. First they build an argument against our currency, because it is excessively great, and now they erect another against it, because it is excessively small. " Neither do I Gild that the Committee dwell very particu larly upon thie cause of the rise of prices, which 1 attribute to taxation. In theory, prices will rise or fall in the ratio of the asoonot of currency : as, then, our currency has been dimi nished one half, the prices of all articles ought, according to theory, to have lowered one half; on tire contrary they are doubled: to account for this contradiction to the laws of theory in a quadrupled proportion, I can find no adequate or efficient cause but inerciNed Taxation. And if sortie persons doubt of the vast effect of taxation upon prices, 1 will illus trate my position that taxes generally increase prices in a double ratio to the tax, by adducing the common article of salt. " When I was at Nantwieh about twenty years ago, the price of salt at the pan was about Sid. a bushel. The duty upon salt is 159. per bushel. What then should be the price ? I asked this morning (the Bth May), at a retail shop in Castle street, the price of a bushel of salt of 561bs. and was inform ed it was forty shillings ! Such is the effect of taxation upon price, since every one endeavours to shift the tax 'from him self upon the last consumer. " Lot us suppose it were possible to tax Bullion itself, and to leave other articles untaxed, and that we taxed Bullion three times as high as the Continent : Bullion then would be dearer in England than on the Continent by the amount of the higher taxation, and of course would have a tendency to go to the Continent, where being less taxed, it would be of higher value. What dues it signify in general result whether an equal tax raising prices ten per cent. he put upon all arti cles generally, without any tax upon Bullion; or a tax to ti e same amount be put upon Bullion, taming off all taxes upon all other articles. •. It is known and felt by every man, that when taxes are placed upon a great number of the leading articles of any country, they affect the taxed articles in a particular ratio, and all other articles in a general ratio. There is no pat ti cular tax on wheat, or oats, or hay, but their prices have been doubled within these last twenty years.* Can we think that Bullion alone will escape the general law " It is,this effect of taxation upon price which.is the insur mountable obstacle to the plan of the Committee. We have reduced circulation in vain already, and prices have doubled upon us : let us reduce circulation more, prices will still in ct ease. And with a diminishing currency, and the same amount in nominal quantity of taxes, they will' further in crease though production may diminish. If we are deceived by our theories, let us make use of our senses; they, if we are honest and docile, will never deceive us; but if we are de termined to hick against the pricks, sooner than abandon false theories, I can only deprecate, for alas ! I cannot prevent the consequences. " Little as the Committee have noticed the effect of this ^measure upon prices, as little have they adverted to the effect of their alewife upon taxes. Must they not admit that if their scheme shall at any time raise the value of our curt ency 5 per cent. it will mile the value of our taxes 5 per cent. ; and that such an elevation of price will operate as an addi tion of 2,500,0001. to the real pressure, though not to the [20.- 11)4)0 amount of the taxes Do they not know that the lauded proprietors, being the last consumers, feel all taxes in a double ratio to the active and acqUiring classes of mankind; and that raising the value of taxes generally 5 per Cent. will raise the value of the taxes paid by the landed gentry 10 percent.? And is it not an object worth noticin4, is it an object to be passed over in silence, that if their mea sure should increase the value of currency by its scarcity 5 per cent. that the landed gentry 'will experience a rise in the pressure of taxes of 10 per cent. although no persons but the * Sir G. Sbuckburgh Evelyn's Tables of the Prices of the Necessaries of Life, and i)epreciation of Motley for 800 years, is a subject of interesting' reference. It may be found in the Third Edition of Mr. Chalmers's Cvnsiderativns on Com- Merce, &c.--44vItmut. Government and the fund-boldMs will receive any benefit b l this novel mode of imposing taxes by diminution of curr eordy, with great general pressure, and no pliblic benefit? " As to the effects of the measure in narrowing the 01°° !, / market, by annihilating a considerable portion of curr ene ri they are too obvious and too disastrous to enlarge upon. .0 money is power, if production is the natural co nsequenc o e_ money; if wealth and revenue are the natural comeqiiet of production; if without money and production the Puu d: can neither he employed nor maintained i nor reventic 110° 1. nor taxes levied ; those who diminish curr e ncy with a ricw 0,. ot sustain and increase industry, productions, revenue, god pr sperity, will act as absurdly as th e hu s b a ndman, who , f double his crop, should diminish, by a m oi e ty, the qbautiti o seed. " Let me attempt a concise statement of the general poled to he pursued as to prices, taxation, production, and Pr° ol ; rity. I think the argument stands thu s : —D e crease' in , amount of a currency lowers g e neral prices, but increases t" f value of taxes : on the other hand, increase o f the value'''. taxes augments general prices. When, therefore, c nrren r ; and taxation are equal io amount, they con nteract each oilier ~; but decreasing the quantity of curr e ncy has a tendency Hi produce stagnation ; and increasing its quantity tends lighten taxation anti increase production. If then, in A country highly taxed, the reduction of prices is conn teraet s e c ; by taxation, whenever a decreas e of th e curr e ncy is n'a and increase of prices is counteract e d by the decreased v",' tf of taxation whenev e r an inc rea s e of currenc y i s ma de: an d thus the reduction or increase of prices is r e cipr o cally coa t , teracted by the effects of taxation, whether w e increase or d b. crease the currency ; it follows, that a currency ought to 0 gradually increasing, because, cat, ri paribus, such inerli. tends to augment industry and p ro sp er ity ; an d n u t to be minished, because diminuti o n tend s t o p ro d uct no n-euarl° l went and impoverishment." I . yo be concluded To-mot row.] LONDON JOURNALS. FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY• [Morning Chronicle.] By a Letter from A. Andrade, Esq. Vie!: Consul for Portugal, Brazil, and Algarves, to "7, Secretary at Lloyd's, it appears that an Edict ha' been issued by the Board of Commerce at Lisbon' dated 411 i inst. stating, that convoy will be giv e° , until the commencement of J u ly to a ll s hips that may need, and be ready to avail themselves of it ' for the ports of Para, Maranham, Pernambuc ° ' Bahia, and Rio Janeiro. The period allowed for, reporting such intention to the Board is to thy` end of the ptesent month, when a list will be pre' pared by the said Board, in order that the colt' voylog ships of war may be regulated accordinglP [The Times.] A failure of some consequence took place fle the Stock Exchange yesterday morning : rha party was not, we believe, publicly announced 311 a defaulter, and it is therefore presumed that Clg deficiencies will be settled by a private arrange' menr. The Funds fluctuated more than from t" transactions of the preceding day might have beep expected. Consols for the opening were fia t done at 671; they afterwards reached 684, t ub highest price -of the day, which Was followed by an almost uninterrupted decline, till at the doss of the market the quotat,on'was no higher that ) 674. In Bank Stock and in Exchequer Bills Ma e occurred worth notice. India Bonds were at discokant of 9-I. It is remarkable that gold and silver bullion are falling in value, and both 15 1 difficult of sale : the nominal price of gold is 8 0 ' and dollars only ss. 2d. per ounce. A fact, well worthy of the most serious eta' lion of the public, was stated by •Sir TWO . Tyrwhitt the other day at the Meeting at ( 1 1 London Tavern, i n su pp ort o f t h e Pl ymout h gnu Dartmoor Railway, that in the course of last yo r 1,800,0001. were paid to Russia for 18,760 ton g of dressed flax ; and that 37,4841, were paid ,to the United States of America for flaxseed, chief ly for Ireland ; and that he was authorised to state, by those who presided over the Line n Board in that country, that even should all ilia forest of Dartmoor be turned to flax, Irelana was ready to take every grain of its seed.—(lbia !THEATRICAL REGISTER. Performed Last Night.' THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.—Brutus: Lucius Jon Li ti/ Mr. Kean; Tarquinia, Mrs. W. West. After which, pe' - lag is Believing. To which was added, Modern Antiques' THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN.—Roh Roy Macgregur_..2. Francis Osbaldistone, Mr. Duruset; Diana Vernon, 5 1 .77 Stephens. After which, Cozening. T o which was ad d" A Roland for an Oliver. IV For P _ ARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS see ti.e Last rage' PRICE 01 THI3 DAY AT r S per Cent. Red. ...66-14 per Cent. Cons G7i G 6 j 3i per Cent • • _ F STOCKS WEISE 0% Loot. Bank Long Ann 14 India Stock •••• 206 India Bonds Bs. 125. d! S. Exch•Bills.....3s 2s. 4s. ( 1 . 5 " , 1 Cons. for July 671 66311 4 1per Cents 83ii 6 per Ct. Nary Ann. 10011 101 I MAILS. Aanivzi/-1 Dublin, 1 ‘Vaterford, 1 Holland. DuE—i Dublin, 1 Waterford, 1 Gueruserand Jerseys 1 Lisbuii. HIGH WATER AT LONDati BRIDGE TO•MORROViC Nlorning, 2 minutes after 6. I Evening, 27 minutes after , THE SUN. SOLESi coUIS DIVERE FALSUM AUDEAT ? LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1819. - - We received this t morning the Paris Papers of Tuesday last. The following are extracts " CHAMBER OF PEERS, MONDAY, MAY 44. f. The discussion was opened on the secoPd Projet respecting the Press. Only one speakers the Count Germain, was heard on the whole ( 3 the law, when the debate was commence d on the articles ; these were all gone through with' out amendment, and the votes being taken on the whole Projet, there appeared for it IA against it 34 ; the Projet was theiefore declared to be agreed to. _ " The Chamber adjourned till to-morrow, to receive the Report of the Committee on the Pro" jet respecting the Journals, and to discuss the Projets respecting the Abolition of the Droit d'Aubaine and the Transit through Alsace'. " CHAMBER. OF DEPUTIES. " The discussion was resumed on the Article° of the Projet respecting ate Finaucitti Accounts, 1~ hl bp , e, • •i 0 t G t *jil t lig a Illtit tk nd hie( Jen