The Sun. — London, England, 1831-07-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The finance discussitarof Friday night produced smut interesting facts. It appearcul that the amount of exciae duties taken off last year was upwards of ?,,000.00 01 . , from which the diminution to the revenue was 100,000/. short of 1,000,0001. ; from which it follows, of course, that the people have latterly consumed more of excisable articles, which constitute the most essential comforts cf life. by a quantity the duty upon which has been 1,100,0001. The reduction of Custom-house duties hes presented a similar result. The increase in the admissh n of foreign articles for home consumption has in part covered the diminution of the tax. There is of course a propor tionate addition to the comforts of the consumers. By th e abolition of the duty upon slates, the collection of which is united with that upon sea-borne coals now repealed, the offices and officers (that is, the whole machinery for the collection of both—not an unexpensive one) may be re moved. In the repeal of all duties and impost., the ex pense of the collection is almost the first thing to he con sidered, not only on account of the saving of money, hut on account of the chain of dependence and subser viency which is broken through and dissipated. An Hon. Member expressed some apprehension that by the repeal of the export duty on coals the consumption might be so much increased that we ourselves might be left in want. :The elements or data for forming any calculation upon such a subject Insist be very deficient ; but we recollect a great political economist (monstrum horrendum informe,) we might add, rui l umen udemptum, (for your genu i n e economist is as blind as a hat), after due examination of all the mines and capabilities of mining in the Newcastle country, coming to the conclusion that the coals there would last for 30,000 years, at the existing rate of con smnption. But with respect to the free trade system, which was again brought into discussion on Friday night, we differ from those who think that free trade in every thing is else is nugatory, because we have not a free trade in corn. Undoubtedly, the free admission of foreign ~orn must he the consummation and perfection of the free trade system, butt it is likewise certain that the free trade in all other articles of foreign commerce to the utmost extent that considerations of revenue will ad mit, cannot impede, but must ultimately force the free trade in corn; and that ar, the less likely to succeed in this latter obiee.t, the more our passage to the aboli tion of the corn laws continues blocked up by divers other prohibitions upon articles of minor consideration and less utility ; whilst, on the contrary, it would be in qiilinui to a degree that could not he borne, that there should be a free interchange of all the products and ma- nufacturee of the continent and this country, with the sole exception of corn, the first necessary of life. It would be more happy if we began with the free admission of corn, except in as far as it was subjected to some fixed taxation, simply with a view to revenue; but if we can not start from it, we have no doubt that we shall get up to it. A rising manufacture may, perhaps, he protected by a prohibitory duty, as new dis( overies are secured by patents ; but no established interest ought to be thus guarded and fenced round. For what is the effect of those guarde and fences, prohibitory duties or restrictions? They are taxes upon the community, not for the good of the sate or the support of Government, but for the exclu sive advantage of individuals ? Times. The Belgic Papers of Saturday, which arrived last night, leave us still in the dark respecting the adoption by the National Congress of the proposals of the Confe rence of London, and consequently enable us to determine nothing about the final arrangement with Prince Leopold. We have, however, gained a few more facts as the ele ments of reasoning on the subject, and can hold out better hopes than ever of a favourable result. On the ?Bth ult. the deputies who had come to London to offer the Crown to his Royal Highness, made their report to Congress through M. tie Gerlache, the chief of the mission and the President of the National Assembly. M. de Gerlache, after highly eulogizing the Prince, and stating the unani mous epinion of the deputation in favour of " the warm, the personal interest which her felt in their behalf,—the amiable and estimable qualities which distinguish him, — the exalted capacity which comprehends the wants of a people who love all kinds of liberties,"— read to the Assembly the address which he delivered at their formal interview with his Royal High ness, and the answer which his Highness returned to them, together with the letter which he transmitted through them to the Regent. The reply of the Prince to the deputation we have already given in this journal, and the letter will he found to-day among our extracts from the Belgic papers. After the Ptesident had thus de livered the report of the deputies, M. Lebeau, the Mini ster for Foreign Affairs, ascended the tribune, and gave a detailed account of the negotiations which had been ear. lied on at London between the two Belgic Envoys and Conferences for the settlement of the terms of septa )lom between Holland and Belgium, on the adoption of which the final acceptance of Prince Leopold would mainly depend. By this statement it appears, that on Sunday, the 26th ult., simultaneously with the final in terview which the deputies had with Prince Leopold, Lord Peltnerston, as the organ of the Conference, deli vered to the two Envoys sealed packet, which they were commissioned to transmit unopened to the Belgic Minister for Foreign Affairs. This packet contained proposals to firm the articles of a treaty between Beigiorn and Hol fated, which were modifications of the previous protocols. These articles, eighteen in number, were likewise traisa mined to Holland for the assent of his Dutch Majesty, - and were to be null and void if rejected wholly or in part by either of the two Governtnents in the Netherlands. But be sidesthese documents which were publicly read, ass'd which, as parts of the proceedings of Congress, were inserted in the Journals of the following day, the Minister stated that the Commissioners to London had communications with their future Soveretn and with the Members of the Conference, which he wished only to lay before a secret sitticz of the Assembly. Accordingly, - after some opposition, a Sec.'et Committee was appointed for Thursday (the 30th) to hear the promised communica'ions. The result of that sitting we have not yet received, except in the shape of e vague rumour. There is every appearance, however, that the party for accepting the proposals of the Conference, and trusting to future negociation for sod. amendments in them as would be desirable, will gain the aseende e ncy. If they would restrain their passions, and consult the die tates of prudence, they would ieatantly accede to the proposed conditions, and place in the wrong their old mas ter, the King of Holland, who will certainty etrain hard to etude all modifications of the former protocols to wieich he had given his assent, and who may probably reject the intreati,es of the Allies with the same obstinacy as that with which he resisted the remonstrant:es of his Belgic subjects. But while we state that the majority of the Congress, brought over no doubt by the reports which they have received from their fellow deputies of their treattneiit in London, and of the fitness of Prince Leopold for wearing their Crown, are inclined to accept of a Sovereign and a peaceful settletneut of their differences with Holland, in preference to continued danger and agitation, the party which has always been clamorous for war has now begun to sound a shriller and a louder note than ever. We find an article, for instance, in their organ, the Paper called Emancipation, headed—" Of a last Infamy of the Landon Conference," denominating the prepsAals trans mitted from London " a brevet of shame and diehonnur for Belgium." M. Robauix, the chief leader of this /action, has published an address to his countrymen in the Gems joernal in which he tells them " that the Prince of Saxe Coburg has not accepted the Belgic, Crown, because be adds to his acceptance the impossible condition of ad hering to the Protocols, of ejecting the Belgians 1,-) Holy Alliance, and of surrendering a portion of their brethren to the vengeance of the :King of Holland."— Happily this faction is not very strong in point of num bers, And it is to he hoped that its clamours wili ins re sisted with firmness by the majority of the Congress, anti . disregarded by the majority of the nation,— Times. Lately the Belgic papers boasted of the arris'ai of a Polish Envoy at Brussels, and our Brussels correspondent ,de. scribed him as labouring hard to inculate on the Belgic patriots the lessons of moderation and the counsels of peace. .A._:892.: Belgic Government had not yet been perfectly este hi h and as the relations of Belgium to Europe bed still an unsettled and revolutionary el - erecter, it was thc,;ig;,it by some of the friend s of Poland that it would have been wiser in the National Government of that tatentry not to have commenced a diplomatic intercourse which lied all the appearance of makingu confess, cause with the revolts tionists. This, we m -s, was the view which first occurred to us on the subject, tt. f l.felgians had resisted the arrangements of the great would receive them into the eonim e , r .i t i .i ii o ty c f e E ef ur i o n p d e e ' pe v n i i h 80. 1 nations. The greends of their ree , guage of their public ocaans, had appara ' tQ a t n h d the lan unreasonable, and irritating, and unjust. Thevose powers the peace of Europe by refusing ee submit their clair; ;; %%,, c s i i : at bitration of their friends; and Mee alarmed all established" governments by inflammatory appeals to elsepeople, who se support they court against their osn rulers, whesse hostility they provoke. The Nies have hi th,irto abstained from aii 4:1,71 arts and acts of violence. They have scrupulously observed the duties which they owe to the neutral cisaracter of the I , eteiesbanring states of Prussia and Austria. They have reached no crusade against absolute Governments,—tirey have made no at peal to the disaffected of foreign nations, they have not offered to craternize with i nsurrection all over the world, and, instead of abusing Emperors and Kings, and resisting their award, they 'lave sent envoys to England and to France to justify their conduct, and to beseech their intervention. Was it' not, therefore, incon sistent as WI. their past conduct, and imprudent in their present circumstances, to appear to unite with the Bel gians—so opposite to themselves—and to excite a suspi cion that they looked to foreign revolt, instead of regular Governments, for assistance in their national struggle ? Without explanation, such a suspicion might have been entertained, which we are happy in being enabled to re (l move. The Polish Envoy proceeded to Brussels, from London, not in hostility to the Governments of France and England, hut with their perfect concurrence, if not their previous concert. The Belgians are, after all, a better and a sounder people than their own dema gogues will allow Europe to believe. Their besetting sin is a kind of restless and excitable pride or vanity, which they- dignify with the name of patriotism— which makes them suspicious of encroachments where I none are intended, and prepared to resent affronts which nobody is prepared to offer. They bluster and swagger, and hector and menace, because they are con scious of weakness and wish to make themselves appear strong ; and they really expose themselves to be subjugated that they may appear to be more than independent. Amid all this swagger, they have as yet done nothing but driven away some regiments of Dutch and Belgic troops—not very willing to kill them--by means of a needy populace deserted by the chief swaggerers themselves, and by the influence of De Potter, whom they have since compelled to leave the scene of his glory. But they see how much the Poles have done, and entertain a sincere admiration of that noble people. So far is this feeling carried, that a member of the Congress lately declared that he admired the Poles more than his own countrymen. In these circumstances it was thought that a Polish Envoy—a man of good sense and moderation—might have some influence in inducing the Belgic patriots to trust more in the allies, and to rely less on the counsels of their own vanity—to accept of rea sonable terms, and not to endanger the cause of general freedom by- compelling regular governments to make com mon cause against insurrection—which might be equally fatal to the Jibe► ty of Belgium and to the independence of Poland. This admirable advice the Poles have a right to give from their own personal interest (if we may use the phrase) in the result. It is quite evident that the Belgic question, so long as it remains unsettled, must keep England and France—if not in a state of opposition, at least —in a state of suspicion towards each other. It cannot be denied that it must prevent them from uniting in any great political object, such as an interference in favour of Poland. It is moreover, obvious, that while they are negotiating with Russia for one great object which so nearly concerns them, they cannot endanger the alliance which meets in the London conferences by such a remonstrance as they might make, were the Belgic objects of the alliance gained. The Plenipotentiaries of his Im perial Majesty know that fact full well, and they would not show the usual adroitness of Russian diplomacy if they did not throw every obstacle in the way of the final settlement of Belgium, by confirming the obstinacy of his Dutch Majesty, and stimulating the pride or fears of the Belgic patriots. The Polish Envoy was therefore as much employed against the Czar and as beneficially acting for the independence of his country, in advising the Belgians to a peaceful settlement, as the armies of Poland in fight ing the Imperial troops. We give, under the head of " Hamburg Papers," the last news from Poland, and in another column a curious circular of the Polish Govern ment respecting the cholera, of which Russia made a fatal present to a nation which she had so long oppressed. —. Times. Nothing can be less gratifying to the country, or more calculated to shake its confidence in public men, than to see the time of Parliament occupied in a system of per• sonal attack and recrimination, such as its walls night after night exhibit. We are far from wishing to see the slighest abatement of that constitutional jealousy and watchfulness which it is the duty of Parliament to entertain towards all the public acts of public men ; but when we see personal pique and disappointment taking the place of those high and disinterested motives which ought alone to influence men in their zeal for the public service, we neces sarily hold such mock patriotism very cheap, and will lend our aid, as far as we prudently can, in unmasking and exposing its professors. Among the loudest hawlers against the measures of the present Administration are persons who held minor offices under the last. This, in one sense at least is natural enough. Clerks and secretaries, even if they pos sess business-like habits, which is not always the case, of course, belong to a class who look for no reward but their hire. They have none of that ambition which prompts men to serve their country in higher stations ; and, there fore, when expelled from office, they neurally enough turn, like snarling curs, upon those who have deprived them of their bone. This, we say, is natural enough ; and all that we ask at the hands of the public is, that such patriotism shall pass for no more than it is worth. The present Government is assailed by the losers of office in this way. They are accused especially of having aban doned all their promises of economy, and of throwing out their Reform Bill as a tub to amuse and allure the whale instead of them. Now, without being the indiscriminate advocates or opponents of any particular set of men, we would fairly ask our readers whether this be honest or true—honest, as coming from those it does, or true, as applied to those to whom the imputation is intended to attach ? We do not deny that the Duke of Wellieigson and Sir Robert reel themselves were, when in office, anxious to bring about all practicable deductions in the public expenditure, and that they effected this, as far as minor salaries were con cerned. But there were two heads of the Hydra which they had not the courage to touch—the one the borough mongers, who, from long possession, looked upon pa tronage and office as their heir-loom and inheritance—the other, the very class of second_ rate persons in office, who now assail those Ministers who have had the courage to bra in upon their share in the overpaid burdens of the State. To the credit of Lord Grey's Government, it has had the courage to attack those hitherto impregnable citadels of abuse. The boroughmongers see their heir looms slipping lions under them ; while the second-rate holders of office fold themselves no longer that band of exclusives who, front having the ear of their superiors, were exempt from the reach of retrenchment. In fact, the present Ministers have done more in a few months to realize the just expectations of the country than their pre decessors have accomplished in as many years; while they have given the best earnast of their sincerity, by com mencing the work of retrenchment at. the fountain head, i.y reducing (as many think unnecessarily) the salaries of their ovst offices.—Morning Herald. The sagacity anii 4etermination of the people on the all engrossing subject of the fieloern Bills, their zealous watch fulness of the occasional alterations '.n the details, have I,ee.; eternally displayed during the past week. The un toward and ; eery:ions introduction into the English Reform Bill of the half-yea; J3' Rent Clause has excited a moat lively apprehension from one en:l of the kingdom to the other. The various and nutnerosse ciaeees of Refermers had suepended all former differences of opinion, an.i enited in a firm :eel igvincible support of the Ministry on this great measure,— Clearly discerning the honesty of the Ad. ministration in the corniiiete demolition of the borough syatetn, the people were not very nice in their criticism of its subes.ii.We. Seesible men were well aware of the dif ficulties to Le t seen4ntered by Ministers, and the prejudice• of the country lung eubjected to the mal influences of the boroughmongers, and made dae allnevances for any defects of detail or any restriction of abstract rights of franchise, and used their influence to engage all parties of Reicirmers in support of ..',..e common cause. The result of this wis dom of the nation W 3.3 ;roved at the general election. But most unluckily this unanimity of feeling has been tempo. 1.34:e disturbed. In the revision of tie mill, subsequent to its te itMreeval in the last Parliament, die douse re specting the nsede ,ef payment of the 101. rent was added. The circornstanci-z lnd motives under which • . • this ‘ clause was adopted are at leas: doubtful, as far as we yen 'et dive into them ; but it is cieae that the framers of tii;e A l :;noxious limitation of the franchise, and the Cabinet before wirbe,:es, from its important bearing, it must have come, could not have Sizooren its operation or lamsseen its unpopularity. We have great (thane; whether the rricae of rent payment can be applied as a general prin ciple on the feerrhise, especially as it appears to have been thus devised. The ..o.eal and relative circumstances of land:eed and tenant notoriously , t eary in different towns and districts. This variation by no menus i4o4ips only to the worldly situation af the tenant. For example, time ;and :.ords of the miss of small Zte7eses under twenty pounds are genteelly retired tradesmen of the -e. - .oelling classes ; they exact their etas,:. weekly, quarterly, and ino u zl'e , —rarely exceeding a quarter. ; ,!..',! . ,!ey do so' not only as a better 34- surity for rents, but as a cesiee , ..:4e,nce in the periodical re ceipt of ,their own limited incomes. Birmingham would 6.,ch would have been the °Pecat:o4 ,9i . the intended liberal clause irst.'o 114 Ebo.:4t 2,000 , A re t a l o i t a uuced into the Bill, that, v-. -. informed the electors of . , v v e a : t be:ei; N r e e' w ;t t ei, :et ' re i o n tn ti; ..l2, : ? . ; u o en to t and pui.li..z.spirit e d Howe. The deep interest of tfi l s: arterill , the locality of the wealthiest' shopkeepers, is cosesprieed orq on this vital point tenants of Lord in the Bill requires no further coru Pe rn ° e P u le t. N Roepferation in Manchester, and the sympathy between tlisethe different large towns to be enfranchi se d, is welt pressed in the following extract from a private letter of a gentlemen in Manchester to a Birmingham Reformer " MANCHESTER, Just 30.—1 shall begin by referring to a more general subject of interest. A town's meeting has been holden here to-day to petition against the clank of the Reform Bill, limiting the elective franchise to those - ten-pound free holders who pay their rents half-yearly. This clause, if per mitted to stand, will stultify and nullify the whole effect of the Bill as regards large towns, and Ministers have surely been gulled by designing Anti-Reformers whom they have wished to propitiate. The fact is, that nearly all shopkeepers pay quar terly ; in fact, every one knows that most rents are so paid. In Market-street here, out of eighty-eight shopkeepers, only four or five pay at longer terms than every three months, and none at shorter periods ; thus this clause will absolutely change the na ture of the whole Bill, and cause a diminution rather than an in_ crease to the number of voters. I write to you at the particular request of many staunch Reformers here, who hope that you will put Birmingham in motion immediately, and every other place that you can, as not a day should be lost in execrating this clause, and showing Ministers that the people are true to the principles of the Bill, though they are not, and that they will never cease to agitate till this clause be rectified." Bil mingham with its usual politieJl activity had antici pated the electric feeling of Manchester. The Conned of the Political Union, immediately on detecting the cloven foot in the Bill, drew up a memorial to Lord Grey in strong but respectful language remonstrating against the clause, and stating its breach of faith ii retained. This memorial was transmitted to Lord Grey on Wednesday last, to which his Lordship by return of post sent the fo' lowing reply : " Downing-street, June 30 th, 1031. " have had the honour of receiving your letter, en closing a Memorial of the Council of the Birmingham Political Union, in which objections are stated to limiting the 10/. fran chise to persons paying their rents half yearly. " It is with great satisfaction I have to inform you that the words so limiting the franchise were inadvertently inserted, and will be altered in Committee, the only object in contemplation being that of insuring a bona fide holding of 101. per annum. " The Memorial also refers to another supposed alteration as to the division of counties. You will find, by referring to the Bill of last Session, that on this point no alteration whatever has b een made.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, " Thomas Attwood, Esq." GREY." This answer is specific on the point of half -yearly rents, but it does not state what principle (if any) will be applied to limit the 10/. franchise as originally given by the Bill. We are extremely luth to excite any difficulties or discus sions before the Committee of the Commons shall ha ve disposed of the schedules A. and B. of the English Bill; hut as this all-important question of the franchise must eventually be considered and determined, and may be art fully used by the enemies of the Bill, we may apprize Mi nisters of the necessity of setting at rest the disturbed state of the public mind, as also of the expediency of not al lowing a second blunder, and of deliberately examining facts, and availing themselves of information on the sub ject, before they again endanger unanimity and public con fidence.—Morning Chronicle. The second reading of the Reform Bill is to he moved this day, and a long discussion may be looked for. The John Bull of yesterday gives the following account of cir cumstances connected with the clause excluding tenants paying their rents less frequently than every half year. We cannot bring ourselves to believe the statement to be true; but it has an air of truth, and ought to be contra. dieted : " Our readers must have observed in all the newspapers, that in discussing the clause which inadvertently slipped into the Re form Bill, and upon which we have made a few observations in another part of to-day's paper, the Ministerial writers have over and over again attributed the appearance of that clause to a wit. Jul manoeuvre of some gentleman appointed to draw the Bill, or of some other gentleman employed to transcribe the Bill, or to somebody of Tory principles, left in authority by the late Mini stry. This has been repeated, and repeated, and repeated, until grave, reasonable people begin to believe it true, and wonder at the ' iniquity' which prevails in what Mr. Hume calls the entry's camp: . . . "In w what e have elsewhere said upon this matter, it will be seen that we have vaguely remarked upon the designs of Lord John Russell and his colleagues, of which this clau se , inadver tently inserted in the Bill, is the striking evidence—we shall now speak more plainly ; because the charge made upon the Tories has assumed a seriousness of character which renders it necessary to state facts—here they are. " When this clause—this very clause, with all its imperfections as they appear—came under the consideration of the able and Hon. Gentleman who has been employed to draw the Bill—we mean Mr. Gregson—that gentleman called the attention of Lord John Russell to its operation and consequences. His Lordship, so far from being surprised, seemed aware of that operation and those consequences, and even expressed his opinion of the neces sity for throwing the elective franchise into the channels to which the proposed clause would naturally lead it. Mr. Gregson differed in opinion with his Lordship, and the question was re ferred to Lord Althorp, and, atter much consideration, Lord John Russell agreed to abandon it ; and so the conference upon it ended. At a Cabinet, however, which was held a short time after, Lord John met with more support and countenance, and after a second mature deliberation, the clause was inserted. " This being the case, Mr. Gregson, when he found that the insertion of the clause was attributed to either the inadvertence of the gentleman who drew the Bill, or to some worse cause, and that its appearance in the Bill was spoken of as being the re sult of Tory manwuvre, did not hesitate to call upon Lord John Russell, and request a vindication of his character upon this point—but Lord John Russell turned a deaf ear to the appeal, and adopted the system recommended by the Times, of saying nothing about it, as the best way of getting rid of it altogether— this, however, would not satisfy Mr. Gregson,' than whom, as all those who know him know there does not exist a more ho nourable or higher-minded gentleman; and in order to wash his hands of all farther connexion with persons who denied him common justice, he tendered his resignation of the office which he holds under Government. " To this Lord Althorp demurred. He begged him to retain his office, and promised him that on Friday he would ex pl a i n t h e whole of the circumstances to the House of Commons; which accordingly his Lordship omitted to do. " This is the plain statement; and a prettier picture of inad. vertence, accident, mistake, and oversight, we think, never was exhibited ; to say nothing of the personal conduct of the Minis ters to Mr. Gregson, or the insinuation cast by their direction upon the party to which Mr. Gregson belongs."... Morning Chronicle. The declaration of Mr. Stanley on Friday night, on moving for leave to bring in a Bill to regulate the im portation of arms into Ireland, and the method ot keep ing them there, that " strong as were the provisions of the Bill, they were rot stronger than than were abso lutely necessary for the preservation of the peace of Ire land," is calulated to create serious apprehension for the safety of Ireland. One of the provisions of this Bill is, that persons in a proclaimed district having unregistered arms in their possession shall be subject to transportation for seven years. This is a dreadful punishment, and we take it for granted that it would not have been proposed, if the necessity were not urgent. The Irish Members (if we may judge from the language of Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Wyse) will oppose the Bill to the utmost. The Standard of Saturday says— " In the course of the evening (Friday evening( there was a great cry by Messrs.Sheil, Grattan, and O'Connell, for disarming the Irish Yeomanry. Does any one guess why ? Because th e y • had lately become obects of detestation with' the peasantry, that is with the Roman Catholics! Hates any man the thing h e would not kill ?"This is either hyper-Hibernian blundering, or the perfection of candour. Mr. Stanley then brought in the Irish Arms' Bill, one of the provisions of which is that unregis_ tered persons, possessing arms in a proclaimed district, shall be subject to transportationfor lift! We do not quarrel with this dreadfully penal law, because we know that Ireland is on theeve of a Popish rebellion, and the strongest measures are justified by such a case of necessity; but we would gently hint to Mr. Stanley the consideration, that a state of feeling in the popu lation of Ireland which disentitles them to exercise the most ordinary rights of freemen, is not that which qualifies them to send lawgivers to England. But more of this hereafter." If Ireland be on the eve of a Popish rebellion, the mea. sure for registering arms will not assuredly prevent its taking place. But we trust the danger is exaggerated by our contemporary, though the language of Mr. Stanley does certainly in some measure countenance it. To the edition of Thucydides by Dr. Arnold are appended some ingenious disquisitions, illustrative of the progress of so ciety, &e., in one of which he has but too well described one great cause of the misery of Ireland. Speaking of the natural tendency of society, where not obstructed by disturbing causes, he says, " The History of Augsburg down to the overthrox of its hbrrty by Charles V., shows the manner in which the aristocracy of blood is naturally overthrown by the ordinary progress of a people in wealth am:d eivilizaton ; it shows, too, with how little difficulty and danger thia change may he effected, where no disturbing causes exist, anti where the effort of the political constitution is neither hurried forwards, nor violently checked, external circumstances combining also to favour it. Spring is ever a critical period; and the fairest promise of blossom on the healthiest tree may be cut off by one of the sudden frosts or storms so incident to that chargeable season. In the poli tical spring, also, there are peculiar dangers, internal and external, which, in tco large a proportion of instances, have never allowed the blossom to ripen Ist. The union of property, under peculiar local circum stances, with nobility. This is a check upon the growth of liberty which peculiarly belongs to what I have called aristoera;ics o,f conquest; for in these cases the first set tlement of the coni i mmer'.ni: people renders distribution of property fearfully unequal ; and time I:Atilt relation long maintained between the conquerors and the conquered leads to fruitless insurrections and subsequent confiscations, , or to laws directly restraining the acquisition of property by the conquered people." The history of Ireland is the history of - rapine amid confiscation. For the first time, the Irish now ha %e overnmirepi disposed, in some measure, to atone foe the centurit of injustice from I ,vhich Ireland has suffered. But the character formed by centuries of injustice cannot be changed in a day The law and the sword have in Ireland faithfully aided each other in oppressing the people ; and the Irishman, from his birth, i„..,.., - .41,710; to consider the law as his enemy. In every directiOti the native tie marks of con quest. He sees one of the most 'unequivcoal p..oo','s of slaveiy i;; the tenth part of the gross produce of the soil being appropriae.:. th" religion of one - sevent h o f t h e people. The people of Engts.stivetil:_l willingly forget the wic,ngs done to Ireland. But the Irish caancz, :f they would, forget t;i2se wrongs ; for they are st fferiug from them. "El e ven and a tiall:?Illions of acre s o u t o f twe l ve (Pa ang the Dublin . I.r ii rla " n r' d, ing egister of Thur s d a y last) i - some of them thrice in a cen, tury, and passed in moat imita4ces,contrary (as Lord Clae held) to the law of civilized nations, not from native to native, but from native to Englishman, and remain to this day in the possession of Envlishmen or people reeiding in Ireland." These wounds are deep and not easily healed. The late sanguinary affrays at Castlepollard and Newtown harry prove how deadly is the hatred bottle by the two races towards each other. Whether the present Govern ment will succeed in introducing a better feeling remains to be seen. BUt everything remains yet to be done. The peasantry of Ireland are still the most oppressed, the mo.t impoverished of all the nations of Europe.— Afornipfi Chronicle. This evening will recommence, in the House of Com mons, the discussion of that great and important question upon which the voice of the people has already finally pro nounced, but which has still to undergo not only the ordeal of a House of Commons, of which there are many Members, some " fallen from their high estate," others aspiring to future dignity and power, opposed to it, but also that of a House of Peers, in which there is at present a decided ma jority against it. Such a state of parties--however inap propriate the latter term may be to repres,nt the oligarchic d body opposed to Reform—cannot fail, especially in such a crisis as the present, to cause great anxiety in the public mind respecting the final result—a result which is not only important, as determining whether, on the one hand, the country shall in future have the benefit of an en lightened, a wise, and an economical Government, or on the other, he subjected to the sway of men having no sym pathy with the people, caring not for their rights anti pri vileges, and only ambitious of power, as the means of plundering the people, in order to make provision for themselves anti families—but most important also, as de • termining whether the country shall enjoy that repose which is so necessary to the improvement of its institutions, the prosperity of its trade and commerce, and the amelic ration of the condition of its people, or whether it shall be torn by intestine divisions, the links which bind society together be broken asunder, and the safety of the whole social edifice be compromised. Such is the real state of the question—of the yea or nay— the content or non-content--which may be pre nounced by the two Houses of Parliament on the Bill now before the Commons ; and our anxiety, though not greatly increased, is assuredly not diminished, by the mad scheme which the opponents of the Bill have, it is said, now in contemplation to adopt for frustrating the success of the Bill, and driving those from the helm of the state in whom the people recognize the assertors of their rights and the advocates of their privileges. The scheme to which we refer is that of proposing, as an amend ment to the Reform Bill, hut, really, in substitution for it, a Reform Bill concocted by the party which, until within the last few months, declared all Reform to be unnecessary, and the rotten-borough system the perfec tion of human wisdom—the " envy and admiration of sur rounding nations." Where this new Bill will be first tried—whether in the Commons, where it is certain to he rejected, or in the Lords, in order, after due approval, to the Commons, is a question—either yet undecided—or if it be, about which we have learned nothing that can be re lied on ; but a notable scheme it must be, coming front the quarter to which we allude, and whether successful or unsuccessful, can, in the end, be productive of only one result—a greater extension of popular rights than that contemplated by the Ministerial Reform Bill. If the new Bill be of a less popular character than that of Lord Grey and his colleagues, it will, and must, be immediately re jected by the Commons, however it may be received by the Lords ; and if, on the other hand, the franchise pro posed to be conferred by it were of a more sweeping and universal character, what would be the result? Could its propounders hope, even if it were adopted, to regain through it that power which they have so long abused, and so justly, and, we hope, so irrevocably, lost ? Would the people be inclined to place confidence in those who have traded for years in the fruits of the people's in dustry,--whose every endeavour has been to rivet closer and closer the chains imposed upon them by their prede cessors,—who have set their faces against every improve ment of our institutions, and every solid amelioration of the condition of the people,—and who, to every ether public sin, should now add that of causing their cup of degrada tion and infamy to overflow by turning round, after oppo sing all, even the slightest, Reform, and proposing a change in the Constitution, even more radical than that of the present Ministers ? No—no—no—the event is impossible. The public can never look on such men with favour,—it must always view them with suspicion, and hold their schemes in distrust;—and therefore, the only most dis tantly probable result of an attempt to gull the Parliament and the public, by the proposition and successful carrying of such a scheme as that which we have been discussing, is another dissolution of Parliament,—a more dreadful ex plosion of popular feeling than has yet been witnessed, and lastly, the forcing upon the Aristocracy of the country an elective system of which the basis would he the ballot, universal suffrage, and annual Parliaments. For the people there is no ground for fear in the course of the struggle. They die not, neither can they be extinguished; but as friends to a substantial aria just Reform, embracing the re storation of the Constitution only, we deem it worth the while of the enemies of Reform to reflect whether the same language is applicable to them, and whether by a Protraction of the present struggle, their rights, privileges, and property, will not be more endangered than by at once acceding to the just, indispensable, and undeniable claims of the people.—Morning Advertiser. THE RIVER NIGER-TERMINATION IN THE SEA. LETTER FROM JAMES MACQUEEN, ESQ. TO THE EDITOR OF BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE. SIR,--Last autumn you received an article from me containing a review of Clapperton's last, Lander's first, and De Cail'e's late travels in Africa, together with such farther information as I had obtained relative to the termi nation of the great river Niger in the Atlantic Ocean.— This article was in types, and was to have appeared in your September number, along with a corrected map of the course and termination of the Niger. The length of the article, and the way in which your columns have been occupied with important political discussions, have hitherto prevented the appeal ance of my communication in your widely-circulated publication. I am now, however, better pleased that it should stand over till the publication of Lander's new work, as the whole subject of African geography can then he more satisfactorily brought forward in one view, that enterprising traveller having just arrived in England, with the confirmation, from personal research and ocular demonstration, of the important geographical fact, which, from long and patient enquiry, and from good authority, (authority which has not been, because it could not be, contradicted,) I had so often, and go many years ago, laid before the public. Justice to myself and justice to the important subject, however, require of me at this moment to draw, and as shortly as possible, the attention of the public to the facts concerning this case. Sixteen years ago, I pointed out in a small treatise, pub lished in this city, that the Niger terminated in the Atlantic Ocean in the Bight of Benin and Biafra, and it is exactly eleven years since I laid before his Majesty's Government, in the several public departments, a memo rial, accompanied by a map, upon a very large scale, pointing out the important fact, and shewing, the course of the Niger and its principal tributary streams through the interior of Northern Africa, downwards to the Atlantic Ocean. This memorial also went into the commercial advantages which this country might obtain by planting a settlement on the island of Fernando Po, a healthy and commanding position, as a commercial depot, to carry on trade with the inte- Nrioigr.ort: aand i t Africa, offeredby means tb roifntgb forward twnavigable commercialatrea o f co t i l n t e_ pany ready to undertake the work. The pernicious influ ence, however, exercised by Sierra Leone, baffled the com mercial object they had in view. In the following year, 1821, I published a small volume, accompanied by a map u pen a reduced scale, showing the course and termination o f the Niger, with my authorities for the same, and also at considerable length pointed out the trade and commerce which was carried on by the nations of the interior with the Moors and Arabs across the Great Desert, the trade with the Europeans on the south-western shores of Africa, and also the trade and commerce carried on by the nations o f the interior amongst themselves. This volume was pubii 41 1 4(1 by Mr. Blackwood, Edinburgh. In June, 1826, and subsequent to the appearance of Denham and Ciapperton's Travels, I inserted in your Mag/qine an ar tide correcting the peography of the courses of the rivers i n Eastern Sudan, about which I had felt soma doubt and difficulty in the volume alluded to, while the travels of our countrymen just mentioned enabled Inc more clearly to demonstrate the passage of the Niger southward to the Atlantic, with oniy this difference, that the bed of the stream in its southern course was, as I suspected in my first pubtical,;;A, about it degree and a half more to the westward than it had there been laid dawn. I had, as I h ave already mentioned, prepared last autumn another ar ticle, accompanied by a corrected 'map,,on a reduced stele, with the addition of some rivers and placeiesfigwaliteicrileidap.. per ton's last, and Lancer's Erst journey enabled me then to . lay down, and - the - neap to now given with this letter. j his map will give the reader vrOrrect idea of - the course an d termination of the river Niger, and' several o f its tributary streams through Northern Central Africa, and, consequently, render any nar rative on thew points, hy me, at flit , moment unnecessary, I I think it right, however, to state, that I had, many yeais ago, received from different individuals, who had traded up the river in the Delta of Benin, to a considerable die. Lance, positive infiirmation that these rivers communicated with each other by numerous branches, and that the whole were only branches of one great river, which desccudea from it northward; and down which stream, these in• formants told me, large canoes, carrying a great quantity of merchandise, and a great number of people, descended from interior countries, distant one, two, and even three months' journey, and with which natives they were in the constant habit of carrying on a considerable trade, by bar tering European goods for African productions, while the foreign slave-traders received almost all the slaves they exported from Africa, at the trading stations on the mouths of the different rivers in the Delta, to which station, , these slaves had been brought down from distant countri,s in the interior, arid chiefly by a waver conveyance. "It is with considerable sitisfaction, therefore, that I find all the labours and researches, and they were neither few nor light, which I undertook to demonstrate the truth, and establish the fact, that the long -sought and great River Niger terminated in the Atlantic Ocean, has beta - ) within these few d tys confirmed beyond the possibility of cavil or dispute ; and also, that it runs through that por • tion of Africa where I had delineated its course to be ; and no one can hail with greater satisfaction than I do, the arrival of the two brothers, Landers, with this pleasing intelligence, nor be more ready to render them the praise that is due to their enterprise and exertions. "It is painful to reflect upon the number of valuable lives which have been lost by clinging to erroneous theo ries, in endeavouring to solve this great geographical pro blem, which any one, who turned his eye to the Delta of Benin, and to the numerous rivers which enter the sea in that quarter, must have solved in a moment. It is humi liating and distressing in the extreme to a great commer cial and maritime nation like this to have remained so long obstinately ignorant of the important fact, and to have wasted so much time and money as Britain has done, in attempting to do good to Africa, directing her energies and resources to the most unpro ductive, unhealthy, impolitic, and unprofitable parts of the coasts of Africa, while she forsook altogether the more productive and wealthy parts of the country, and that part of the African coast, from which alone any European na tion can, with comparative safety and celerity, reach the more civilized, industrious and wealthy parts of the inte rior of Northern Africa. But let us hope that a different course will now be pursued with energy, and by all the political strength and commercial resources which this country can put in operation. " With these observations I shall proceed to take a short survey of the course and termination of the River Niger, and the advantages which its navigable stream can afford to the commerce of Africa, and which it will, I hope, speedily afford to the commerce of this country. " The branch of the Niger at present best known springs on the north-eastern side of mountain called Lorna, in 9 deg. 15 min. N. latitude, and 9 deg. 36 min. W. longitude, about 200 miles N.E. by E. of Sierra Leone, and eastward of the sources of the Roltelle and Kouranko rivers, which run into the inlet of the sea on which Sierra Leone is situated. From Loma the Niger, under the name of the Joliba, bends its course N.E through Salimana and Kaukan to Couroussa, a town situated about 80 miles east from Timboo, where De Caills 4 , in his late journey, going eastward, crossed it, and found it, before the inundation commenced, to be 900 French feet broad and 9 feet deep, with a current at the rate of 21 miles per hour. The magnitude of the river at this place goes to prove that, between Lotna and Cou roussa, the Niger must have received a large tribute from the east, and which I conceive to be the Coomba, or Zartuna river, laid down in my first map, and which river is found to the N.W. of Ashautee, a consider able stream running westward ; and, as we find no rivers entering the sea on the Gold Coast, from the Assine river to the Mesurado river, so it is almost certain that the Coomba is a branch of the Niger. It is remarkable that Ptolemy brings a branch from the saute quarter, while in some very old and excellent Dutch maps 1 find the higher course of the Joliba so laid down, and which, taking it to be the fact, will account for its great magnitude at Cou roussa, within 100 miles of its teputed source. " De Caill4, after crossing the river, continued hisjourney S. E. about 180 miles to Time, and afterwards N. E. about 90 miles to Tangoora, crossing in his journey nume rous large streams descending from the Kong chain, all running N.W. to the Niger, particularly one at a short distance from Couroussa named Yandan, 450 feet broad, and in his journey northward from Tangoora to Jinne he crossed several other rivers, all bending their course N.W. to the Niger. From Couroussa the Niger continues its course N.E. by Kaniaba, having previously, and a little below Bourre, received the Tankisso (this stream was mistaken by Mollien for the parent branch of the Ba Fing, or Senegal), a considerable river which rises a little to the west, anti runs a little to the south of Timboo. From this junction the Niger pursues its course to Bammako, situated in 12 deg. 49 min. north latitude, and 3 deg. 40 min, west longitude, where Park, in his second journey, fell in with it, and found it in the early port of the wet season one mile broad, hut still confined within its natural banks. From this place the Joliba continues its course nearly east by Yamina, Sego, and gansanding, (here Park embarked upon it in his large canoe in his last journey) to Jinne, where it appears to be divided into several branches or else to receive from the N.W. some tributary streams. " Having visited Jinne, De C tine embarked on the easter❑ branch, about 1200 feet broad, at Caugallia, and proceeded in the course nearly due north to Timbuctoo in a canoe of about 80 tons burden, and accompanied the greater pa► t of the way by a fleet of nearly 80 sail of ves sels of the same magnitude, loaded with goods. In his journey northwards he passed the lake Dibbie, the great magnitude of which surprised him exceedingly, and which stretches from east to west, instead of from north to south. In this lake I have reason to believe the Niger is joined by a river of very considerable magnitude flowing from the N. W., and called by the Moors and Negroes Gozenzair or Wad-el-Fenij. From Jinne to Timbuc too, the banks of the river were low and marshy. Below Lake Dibbie the river generally was very deep, and from half a mile to a mile broad, with a considerable current. Although it was at the height of the dry season when De Caille sailed down it, he found it larger than the Senegal at Podor, only 120 miles from the sea ; in fat, says he the Senegal is tut an ordinary river compared to this.' " Near Kabra, the port of Timbuctoo, the Niger se parates into two branches, the larger about three fourths of a mile broad, bending its course E.S.E., and the smaller about 100 feet broad, but deep, taking its course E. by N. to Kabra. The celebrated city of Timbuctoo is about eight miles north from Kabra, and from the most accurate information which has as yet been received, stands in 17 deg. 30 min. north latitude, and 2i deg. east longitude. From Kabra the small branch of the Niger turns S.E. and joins the parent stream to the east ward, from which point we have reason to believe the Niger flows, in the general bearing of its course S.E. in an united stream, until it approaches Boussa, front which place its course is on the general bearing south, until it reaches the sea. From Timbuctoo to Youri we know very little of the Niger or the country around it, except from the journey of Sadi Hamed, who, as regards the river, describes it as a very large stream, and the further fact, that Park navigated it in safety to Boussa. At Cabs, above Youri, the Niger, which here assumes the name of Quorra or Kowara, is joined by a con siderable river, and which rises to the east, and flows to the north of the city of Saecatoo, from which place the stream bends its course S.W. to the Niger at Cabi. At Boussa the Niger divides itself into three branches, two of which are filled with rocks and rapids, but still passable by vessels ; and the other, called 31enai, where Park was lost, is a deep still-run ning stream. Boussa is situated in 6 dig. 11 min. east longitude, and 10 deg. 14 min. north lati tude, and consequently abont 410 British miles, in a direct l s w a lo n w is ß la o n u d ssa for t i h n e ed N b i y ger th u e n N i te i s ge i r n . on A e t s a tr s e l 7o r i t , line from the sea, a t t h e mout h o f the Bonny r i ver. distanceß o ussa i i r n ep trheesendtreyd season. l)yClapp T er h to e n in to a b g e mit a n q d u e a o r f ter th o e f aNzielre abovebroad Timbuct oo , and its magnitude in the Delta of Benin, as compared to what it is represented to be, near Boussa, naturally excites surprise, and can only be accounted for, if the width given be correct, which, however, I much doubt, from the greater rapidity of its current over the rapids, which are found . in thiS part of its course. 'rhos we re the great river Congo, which above and below the cataracts is from four to five miles broad, reduced at the great cataract to the width of only fifty yards ! " From Boussa, the Niger proceeds south by N3ffe p and is joined in this part of its course by several cousi.. derable rivers both from the east and from the west, t i , Fundali, a celebrated town situated to the eastward ol Katungali, the capital of Yarriba. The river above Funtlah (here several miles broad) bends for a short s p ace to the east, turned aside, perhaps the granit e hill s o l by Yarriba. At Fundab, the Niger is yonied is a lar ge r i ver from the east, , and which more probably c the Coodonia, or Kadania, mentioned by Lander in-his -first journey as descending and receiving several other important streams which descend from that elevated land and chain of high Li . d s ia . n E. of to ll th d longitude, and which hills stretch hills which Commence to the . south of Kano, in the me eegrheigesheamstoilind;ains of Mandara, the moue' Thais, of Ptolemy and whirl , elevated chain just men tioaed intervenes between the river Shay y and the lake Tschad, thus dividing the waters which flow from the S. and S. E. io the Shaty, and front the west in the river Yeou into that lake, from the waters which, spring ing in the chain mentioned, flew - westward and south westward to the Niger. About Furnish, also I cling to the belief, that the Niger is joined by a great river descending by Mount Thala, from the Mountains of the Moon. From Fun dah the river bends its course south through Benin, in which country, and probably about seven degrees of north la titude, it separates into numerous branches, the principal of which are the Rio de Formosa, certainly , the parent stream which enters the sea i❑ the Bight of Benin, and the Bonny and New Calabar rivers, which flow to the S. E., to the sea nearly opposite - the island of Fernando Po. These rivers, as we shall presently see, are of great magnitude. " From the Bight of Benin to the Bight of Biafra, no fewer than twenty rivers enter •the sea through this alluvial Delta, which is completely flooded to a great distance from the sea, during the swell of the rivers in the rainy season. The Rio de Formosa is three and a half British milrs broad at its mouth, where there are two bars of mud with thirteen feet water on each. Upwards in its course it spreads to a breadth of four miles, and is four or five fathoms deep, throwing off numerous branches to the S.W., S., and S.E., and on every large branch, to the W.N:W., which joins the sea near Lagos. From Rio de Formosa to Cape Formosa, six rivers, each of con siderable magnitude, enter the sea. The Rio dos For cados is the largest of these. Its mouth is the first to the south of the Rio de Formosa. South of it is the large lake called Warree. Passing Cape Formosa we have sit rivers (the first and nearest the Cape is the river Nun, by which the Landers descended to the sea,) which enter the sea before we come to the great outlet of the New Calabar and Bonny Rivers, which join the sea by four different mouths, the principal of which is elaren!miler broad, and very deep, with a large bank of sand on the west point, on whi c h, th oug h te water is thirty feet deep, the breakers are fearful, owing to the prodigious force of fresh water which here encounters a powerful current in the sea. Eastward we find a great inlet of the sea, at its mouth twelve miles broad, extending north nearly one hundred miles, and which is joined by Cross river comin g from N. W., an d certa i n l y a b ranch of the Niger; and by the Rio Elrei river and Old Calabar river, both descending from the high lands to the east ward; but which have, I believe, no communication with the Niger. " I have thus, and as concisely as possible, brought be fore the reader the course and termination of this mighty stream, which has baffled the researches of the learned and curious for nearly three thousand years. Its course in the general bearings of the line of its bed will, from Loma to Bonny river, be nearly two thousand six hundred British miles, without reckoning anything for the length of the Coomba, probably the parent stream. Of this course we knew it is navigable, and has been navigated from Couroussa to the sea, a distance of about two thousand five hundred miles. The countries round its banks are in general very populous. The inhabitants are comparatively industrious, and to a certain extent advanced in civilisation, and they are moreover great traders, and anxious to engage in trade. The supply of European articles which they receive is principally obtained from the Moors and Arabs, after tedious and very expensive and dangerous journeys across the Great Desert, which so enhances the price that few can purcha e; but the water communication, by means of the Niger, will so greatly reduce the price, that it will render th e consumption of European articles much more extensive ; while the supply of fire-arms, and other muni tions of war, which the nations in the interior will by this means, and by this communication, receive, will speedily enable them to repel the fierce inroads of the Fellatahs, end other wandering Moorish tribes who dwell on the southern borders of the Great Desert, and there live by plundering the cara►ans and the peaceable and snore in dustrious nations of the south, which pernicious inroads retard and always will retard the civilisation of the in terior of Africa. In giving the future trade with the interior its proper and natural course, namely, upwards from the Delta of Benin, by means of the Niger, and its tributary streams, considerable and serious impediments will no doubt for a time be thrown in the way by the ignorance and avarice of the chiefs, and the people composing and ruling the numerous states into which Africa along the Niger is unhappily diajointed, but these difficulties and impediments will be gradually removed ; while at their outset, and in their general strength, they cannot for a moment be compared to the more vexatious impediments and terrific dangers which ac company the march of the trader through the bands of the ferocious and half-starved Moors and Arabs who rove through the Great Desert, and live by plundering the ill-fat.-d travel lers who cross it. At any rate, it is by means of the water communication new laid open, that the interior of Africa ever can be benefited by its intercourse with the civilized nations of Europe, or that these civilized nations of Europe ever can materially extend their trade with, and the con sumption of European articles in the interior of Africa. The exports and imports into the interior of that country across the Great Desert, and from the sea-coast in the Bight of Benin and 13iafra, amount annually, as near as I have been able to calculate, to nearly two millions sterling imports, and of exports to a greater amount; the former consisting chiefly of the coarser and of some fine article( of British manufactures and produce, and more especially, and which are more eagerly coveted than thereat, articles necessary for domestic purposes, and for the cultivation of the soil, trade, navigation, and war, while the expotts from Africa in return consistof gold-dust and various arti cles of raw produce of great value and importancein carry ing o❑ the different branches of our manufactures. At this moment when so many markets are shut against us, and so many more are rendered so unproductive, the trade lo which I have alluded is of great importance to this country to look after, as by perseverance and judicious ma nagement the greater portion thereof, increased and in creasing, would unquestionably fall into our hands. Glasgow, June 18. I am, &c. JAMES M'QUEEN. " At the Royal Geographical Society, on Monday last, (13 June) Mr. Barrow read a short notice from the chair, of the Messrs. Landers' recent journey in the interior of Africa. Mr. Barrow began by saying, that, at one time, he had hoped to be able to lay a short paper on this sub ject before the Society at its present meeting, with a sketch of the route followed ; hut having only obtained the origi nal documents that very day at four o'clock,. this was ne cessarily deferred. In the meantime, referring to the map in Captain Clapperton's last journey, he could state, gene. rally, that Mr. Lander and his brother had landed at Ba dagry, and proceeded, nearly in the tract formerly followed, to Beussa on the Niger, and afterwards to Youri, which they found to lie considerably farther north than is laid down in the map, and nearly west, as they were told, of Soccatoo. They had thence proceeded up as far ai the river Cubbie, a considerable tributary which passes Soc catoo, and another town to the eastward called Cubbie, and falls into the Quorra, or Niger, a little way above Youri ; and on this they had embarked on their downward voyage. Shortly after reaching Funda, the last paint laid down in Captain Clapperton's map, they found the river make a bold sweep to the east, being here from five to six miles wide, and in other places it was even broader; it thence turned southeast, and circled round to south, receiving in its course another accession in the Shary, as it was called, a river from three to four miles wide, coming from the east ; which must not be confounded with the river of the same name visited by Major Denham, and which fails into Lake Tchad. (It is likely that the word Shary, or some similar word, is a generic term for river, water, or some thing of this kind, and that both these streams have their origin in high land interposed between them.) After re ceiving the Shary the Niger is still further deflected, run 'sing to the south and west, till at last it expands into a considerable lake, from which the river Nun, which Me. Lander descended, and probably several other rivers that enter the great bay of Ilenin in its neighbourhood, issue at different points. In descending the Nun, which is not above three hundred yards wide, the travellers were at tacked by a furious party of natives; and, being taken prisoners lost all their effects, with some portion of their respective notes; but, providentially, what one was de prived of, the other was enabled, to a considerable extent, to preserve; so that between the two, the joint narrative is nearly complete. From the point then, where Mr. Park first embarked, in 1805, this noble river has now been traced above two thousand miles, in the very heart of Africa; and in Mr. Lander'f, : opinion it is navigable fur a great por tion of the distance by small steain-boats. The natives, also, in the interior, are eager to see more of us; and they are even already so fa r advanced in civilisation as to make a trade with them worthy of pursuit. The greatest ob stacles are the still existing slave -trade near the mouth of the river, and the hostile feelings which our attempts to put an end to have excited in the deluded popula tion there. Palm oil is, as yet, the only other equiva lent for their supplies which they have been able to pro duce ; and they naturally look forward with extreme dia like to the Prospect of the market for their .other and more valuable object of barter - being still further curtailed. They are, in a word, the anti-machinists of the African world, and do not like to see the demand contract for manual labour. ilintato nontine,'de nobis ipsis fabula narratur." PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MURDO YOUNG AT Th Sn OFTI( P, IE4 STR LONDON: i