The Sun. — London, England, 1806-02-12 00:00:00

REFUTATION OF-711E-C*ll.lRGn BROUGHT' AGAINST THE COMMERCIAL INTEREST OF ITAMBVRtIi - Atio BREMEN, IN THE " Tim Puhliciste, of the 20th of December, 1R0 , 5, Contains: the following Extract of a private Letter - from Frankfort, dated Dec. 12 (21' Frimaite) : " Since the Russian, Swedish, English, and Hano Verian Troops, have been in possession of the shores of the Elbe and the Weser, the English trade has been again put upon its ancient footing. .The English Metchants have availed themselves of this opportunity to inundate once more the North of ,Germany with an immense quantity of goods from their inanufadories. " Not a day passes without the arrival of English ahips, richly laden, at the mouth of these rivers, and from thenee they proceed to Hamburgh and Bremen. The merchants of these cities are. mostly Commis sioners for England, and men whose principal specu lations are confined to English goods. • The,se people *a . eild numerous transports of these wares to their 'correspondents in different parts of Germany.—All the roads, through Upper and Lower Saiony, are how covered with carriages - -transporting these goods, and of which, for some time past, 'there bad been a partial scarcity. The speculative spirit of our traders is again revived, and acting; in its- HI force. The tradiii-J interest of the Continent of Europe at large Is now entirely overlooked, merely for the sake of the sordid gain which arises from this branch of it. " The North of Germany being in the possession of Troops that are enemies to France, while it is favour 'Able to these speculators, is a real calamity to the 'whole German Empire. • "Tie English *.ferchants are not content ,merely with transferring their goods to their - Commissioners in Ellniburgh, Bremen, &c. but in those parts of Germany, not in possession of the French Army, They have also their . agents, by whose means they keep up a comet:lion With a considerable part of the Merchants in the interior, for the avowed purpose of sending - them their goods. Thus they flatter themselves with the hopes of increasing the sale of their produds. The German Governments have titherto donenothiug to put an end to these artifices iaf trade, notwithstanding their own manufaaures are Manifestly ditninishing, and specie has in a great Measure disappeared. • " They Write from Dresden, that the Saxon ma nufaanters.have• dared to make new-representations to their Fleaor, with A view to induce him to lay rest rßions upon • the: importation of English goods. They have presedi l ecY . a' very . accurate state inert, supported by docunients ; all which tend tb display, in strong colours, the :present ruined con dition of the SaxOn manufaaures, in consequence of 'English jrnportation. - •rs This staet-nent the . Erector' has referred to the lilterior - Department. Still it is to' be apprehended that this step Will of the desired effed, and " bate the same fate with all the former representa bens made fbr some years past upon the same sub .' - The influence of guineas is omnipo tent, even in Saxony, where the. Ministry still wish to be patriotic: , . • " scarcity of provisibns increases in Saxony, -and. in a considerable part of i dle North of Germany, in a very alarming degree. Dissatisfadion prevails among the people, who feel all the pressure of the comijulsien they labour under; in furnishing an Atiny With prOVisions, which, paid by the gold of England, and. which Arlqi* it is Pretended, came _there to defend these Centuries: In several Dis ties, the traces of insurteLtion may be seen ; and. If the situation of affairs be not speedily altered, -We manive to witness circumstances of which peOple at present seem not to be aware." . REMARES UPON THE FOREGOttO LETTEiI • Whoever the fabricatOr of this letter from Fraittl= fort may be, we can neither look upon him as a German nor a Frenchman, as his compositiOn does not exhibit either the honesty of the former, or the 1 liberality of the latter. Real or pretended doubts, • • false views, insidious censure, and low cunning, are the traits which ,expose the writer to • the severest Imputations, for a want Of modesty and candour. It is more the design of art, than the. chance of acci- • dent in this writer, which baS led him to view, with a jealous eye, the Merchants of Bremen and Ham- ' burgh at this critical junctures as generally consist ing of English' Commissioners. We can, however, answer this writer, by assuring him, that the houses concerned in the English Ma nufadureS, 'the retail dealers excluded; do not ex ceed twenty houses of any note in Hamburgh. India cotton certainly is not to be tetloned among English riufa 6tu res We shall be. cautious not to deviate iii any degree • from our purpose, 'so as to lead 'any person to a be lief that we- are descending to answer as complain= ants, statements destituteof truth - , , The Hamburgh MerchantS, .in common With all others who do not confine themtelves to one branch,' are exclusively neither CoMmissioners for England, France, nor any otherNatiOn ; but for every Foreign Merchant without exception . ; who may apply to them in the regular way of trade. Thus, previous to the Revolution, the Hamburgh • Merchants were CoMMissionets for the French ; , because. at that time they received the greatest part of their colonial produce, and principally coffee, from Bourdeaux ; large quantities of silk from Lyons, besides cloth from the manufactories -of France. But • since France has lost its colonies, and since its ma nufadories are ruined, commissions on the part of that nation have natdrally ceased, as well as the • trade of Hamburgh with that country, excepting • for wine, 'and the simple produds of the earth, as -• fruits, &c. Unless Hamburgh shoUld now give up its com merce, and its Merchants cease to employ their capitals, and at once throw its gates open to wretchednesS and misery, add even consent to ex . -- change its 'flourishing situation for the indigence of idleness and inactivity, they must cease to indulge any thing like friendship or partiality in their com mercial concerns, and to pursue their object to the best advantage. Stuffs, which now begin to take place of silks, were only to be had from England ; colonial commodities the. same. Thus the Ham burghers were, in a manner, compelled to trade with the English. Where would have been the ad= vantage to France, if,. in this turn of affairs, the lialuhurghers, and thet whole of the' Hal-male. 'tfl'Ar'hs, had come to the. sublime reAolution of te nouncing all the benefit; of trade; and, oat of love or respect for the French people, consented, to die of hunger ? The English would, no doubt, have enjoyed such a sacrifice, so far, as to have pri`kliited some caricatures upon the occasion ; but certainly neither the French; the. Spanish, nor the Portu guese Merchants, would have had any reason for ap proving of such a measure. • The policy of States, which we see every day look ing upon consanguinity with perfea indifference, never carries its cold-blooded austerity so far, -as to ask the Merchant whether be mingles either friend , : ship or enmity with his connexions in trade. The Merchant buys of thtse - who have to sell, and who sell the most to his advantage; and he sells to those who wish to take his goods, and will give him the best . price for them. If a merchant were to admit of friendship in the course of his trade, and perse vere in his attachment'to the oldeSt-of his connexions, who once sold to him, but at - length had nothing left to sell, he must, either suffer his capital to re main useless, or, if he were in want of a competency, consent to perish by degrees ; and' all this as a most enviable sacrifice to a tenderness in trade, with a full claim, however, to such a splendid epitaph as the Author of the Letter from. Frankfort is best qualified to write. _ _ _ __ _ Now the situation of an individual , Merchant is exactly the same - as that el a Commercial City, which in this capacity, exclusive of the good of the inhabitants, can have neither friendship nor enmity. Upon this around the Hans Towns - were declared neutral, and were of course considered as uo longer possessing any political consequence. But why is the purchase of English goods reeks oned so high a crime on the part of (some or "all) the Merchants of Hamburgh and Bremen, while their buying of great quantities of French .wines has never been censured? They willingly purchase every thing of the French which is actually useful to them thus, during the late short period of Peace, when sugar and coffee Were to be bad at Betirdeaux., the Hamburghers made large purchases, and congratu lated themselves upon the opportunity; not from a principle of tenderness in trade, bin upon a much better, and for. the French a more honourable foun dation,---because they were able to obtain from Bout-- deaux a much better commodity than from England: and truly, it ,is not to be imputed as a crime either to Bremen - or Hamburgh, that the French manufac tures no longer continue-to rival those of England. Neither the alterations of fashions, nor modes of thinking, are to be accused on this occasion ; but it is the changes which, France herself has undergone that has produced all these new dispositions in the Commercial World. France has become a Military Nation,::and thus, for the moment, has laid aside her customary emulation in the fabrication of modes; while the" English, in consequence of the recent in vention of a number of machines, have obtained the advantage over ,France. , England is also, conse quently, much richer. than France, from the results of an extended commerce, which her Marine has procured for her : and to all this, another weighty ,consideration may be added—that in England every person cap employ a large.capital With confidence; while in France the renienibrance of the disturbances in the interior, as yet scarcely allayed, deter the capi talists, though, we believe, under a wrong idea, from embarking in the establishment of manutaetories, arc. The security of property is the very life. and soul of tradeand commerce : where this fails, the (Abets are sure to.fail. This is a truth which cannot be rsiTeaM. We often ; and the Writer of the Frankfort Letter would have done better, had he confined him self to similar fa&s,_ than in endeavouring to excite the ill-will of the Conqueror of Austerlitz against the harmless Hans Towns,' by clothing there in an English uniform, mannfaEtured upon his shopboard at Frankfort, and 'placing them in the ,same offen sive point of view, in respect to the commerce of France, as the Vi6tor of Trafalgar. After this kind of 'political, conjuration, we need not wonder, that since the termination of the brockade'ef the Elbe and the Weser, the Frankfort Writer looks with Such an evil eye upon the pos session of Honover by the British, and other troops in the pay of England, and the arrival of English, "goods at Hamburgh and Bremen, which also .ap pears to him as an inundation of the Continent Of Germany. Did he bin use half his industry to diScover the truth, he would knoW that the sale of English goods was no more increased by raising the blockade of the Elbe and the Weser, than dimi niShed before 'by; a contrary conduit. The intro diidion of English commodities, during that block ade, Was neither more nor less extensive than be fore ; and none but a.knave or a simpleton, residing atTrankfert or Leipsie, could ever have thought of asserting, " that, for sonic time past, there had been sonic - What of a scarcity of English goods." The . fad is, that the great profusion of English goods at the German faits, and other places, tbr these three. years past, in consequence of the re-opening - of the Elbe and the Weser, was no greater than before it "occurred ; nor was there; Olt' the other hand,' any alteration in' the price of those commodities while the. bleckade of both: : theiie rivers . con tinned ; whereas, had the blockade of the Elbe and the - Weser produced 'any of the effects com plained of by the . Frankfort writer, these Colllll9o* , dities must have risen considerably. He also in sinuates that our Hamburgh merchants, with their gain soraide, though not so sordid as the pen and the forehead of -this writer, being privy to the design of blockading the EltiF; . speculated upon the 'rise of several articles. No d one, howeveits, but himself could ever have,dretithed that English commodities were the obje& of any such speculation ; because . 'Hamburgh; as to its local situation, possessed no thing in favour either of the entrance or the sale of English goods. In faa, had all the ports been stint up, from Lisbon to Dantzic, the distance from the appointed place for entrance and sale would have made little or no difference. As to the richly laden ships daily arriving in our ports, I would ask, whether their arrival at Ton ningen, or any other port, would not have been equally as praciicable It is also easy to . prove, that the, blockade of the Elbe was of no' immediate disservice, in,any respect, to English merchandise; it was a circumstance that rather pointed out other inlets to the Continent, by which it could be sup, plied. Besides, this blockade was rather prejudi cial to Hambuigh and to Germany in general, as it taught, the people of_Jhe Continent' to obtain what they had been used to receive- by the way of Ham- . ly, - ,r ; 'l' 6 .Bce. tiArongh other channel's ; . Many, wi t:ries', the /Americans in particular, are in the habit of coming, to Hamburgh, besides a number of ves sels of And froM England ; the. :consumption, not withstanding,. was more the object a Enghlhtt than any other Power. The consumption,' however, re- mained the same, but the eomPetitors *ere ditili7 iikhed : England alone, from, its colonies, looked to . the. supply of Embdent tanningen, Stettin,. Rostock, Sze. and , of course i,•4• the pride of its goods. If, on the .contrifry, such large ports gs Hamburgh and Bremen could have been siiflici- i ently supplied by their OWn and other neutral ves sels, other colonie§' besides the English, would have availed themServeS of it, and wilat is called the English monopoltt Would naturally have, ceased : as 'a proof of this, ‘'ve need only to Mention', that . ' since the blockade of the Elbe has been raised, every , kind of Colonial .produce has fallen in value, and the price formerly set by the English is no longer an example. The Frankfort, Letter-writer, however, still harps upon- the English manufactures, and the itrimediate ; connexion which .the English maintain with the interior of the Continent, by means of their agents, travellers; Bre...from Hamburg)). But can he possi bly.be ignorant, that even these merchants, in the interior of Germany, may avail themselves of any port from whence the land carriage is considerably' cheaper than in the vicinity of any of the great and rich cities ? In reality, the blockade has opened so 1 many facilities to the interior of Germany, and has occasioned, the discovery of so many advantageous ports, as to remove every idea of preference given to Hamburgh. A free choice has thus dire&ed the. mercantile interest to give the preference where they clipOse; mid this, it seems, has pointed out Embden for the South, and Stettin for the East of. Germany. . , . From these • places, the . fairs' at Leipsic, and Frankfort upon the Main,, may be supplied just as cheap by land as from Hamburgh and Bremen ; and where there is an opportunity of being supplied by water, and the carriage is ever so low, yet as the weight of the English manufa&ures bears no propor .tion to their worth, and they are more liable to be damaged by water, land carriage, if possible, is al ways preferred... .. .-. . . . • • There are_two• principal reasons why Hamburg!), in common with any•trading -town, enjoys such dist 1 tinguished advantages, viz. its situation upon large I navigable river, and the 'large capitals of its inha bitants, which afford them so many opportunities for facilitating the' sale of their goods. ' But in re- 'sheet to commodities, the change Of . fashions, and the variety of new inventions, continually introt duced, Must operate as 'a considerable advantage, Compared with other articles of trade, in which Haniburghers are engaged. Experience also evinces that no English manufa6tures of any kind are sent over here as consignments ; or at least that they bear no proportion to the other articles sent here for ; . sale. • increased the number of those wretches, the Seii temtirizers, &c. &c. And with those who fabri. eat€d - conspiracies t 1 the prisons, he would have preparA a dailjr, sacrifice for -the Altai - of TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY RIGHT HON. WILLIAM-PITT, AND :TUE lUGST viS9OUNT NELSON. . • No* mourn itgozzo, thou insulated Land, *here Freedom makes her firtnest—fi , d stand 1 Lost, Lost for ever are thy Spear and Shield — Light of the COuittOil—liero of the Field— , • Nit:soil and 11'6- ! The C:lory of the Age l the boldeit Warrior and the wisest Sage 1 The wide World's Wonder I Polished Europe's Pride! Die SLitt* Sheet-Anchor, and the tielin's struck:nine f )ut mourn not, void of hOpe ; for why deipairl Britannia is Eliavetestecuibir cite. Yet many a Nl ir, with patriot zeal, shall spring to counsel his belov'd —his gracious King . Yet many a NELSON, on th' ensmguiii'd Main, Shall/SXibe Dertinier of FRA NCE and Si. A ContendiFg Pit - ties cordially unite, T' illume the Senate, or conduct the Fight : ' While Albion shall exchange her tears fur smiles, And reig4.uniivall'd, Eidrxiss or Taz I sz.as Hist'iy to late Posterity shall fell floW NELSON fought—how gloricitisly he fell ; What Honoucs•l3ritain to her Champion paid; What funeral pomp aton'd his mighty Shade. Shall nOt like Honours to the Grave attend The clear Remains of his departed Frict•.d For what he %veil ierform'.l, his Patron pi f vfnv-- This the keen :+n, and tb.zr .th! eLscdive HA ! No.—On his Toinb this simple 'faith be writ, " Here ties the mortil. part of WILLIAM PITT." Fancy's bright Talisman; while Millions, gaze, Shall make each -Letter,lika a Stini•bearri blaie Nor.sliall tie Lustre of that Name tipiie, 'fill Tombs are bursting, ancitheWorlel's on Flit I • ME. OiERA:7-After the grand serious Opera of •GrOia.ti-eCririazzi, in which GRASINI and Bii.A. 7 HAM deservedly gained high applause, a superb new Ballet of the heroic kind was brought forward last nighfat,the King's Theatre; under the title of Td; cr lane. and.iiagazet. It .is chiefly derived from the serious Opera of Joxana, and is the composition of M. .Rossi. It is a very magnificent ,spectaele,. and does credit to' his talentS as a Ballet Master. The outline of the story is so well known, that we need. not detail it to our Readers. As these are martii:J. tunes, a tattle is one of the principal scenes, thOugh it might be thought that the World has too much of the reality of such scenes to stand in need of any copy. However, the contest is managed with admirable ef feet; and it produced much applause. The fable is by no means devoid of interest, and it has re. ceived every splendid advantige from the liberality of the Manager. The dresses are very showy and striking. TiAt: talents of the Dancers are brqught forth with 'fine effeEt. Dcs 'HAYES and PARISOt exerted themselves with very great skill, particularly - the former, who • has hardly been excelled by the most celebrated of his predecessors. The Music, which is partly selec r ed and partly original, does cre dit to the taste and genius of Mr. Blsmor, who is said to have been a pupil of BIANCHI. The new was received. wAll great applause by a numer- L ous audience of the higher order. Still the test of experience is a • standard by which the Writer of ,the Frankfort-Lotter would be unwilling to abide. Governed by malignant pre judices only, his principal objeEt, at this critical moment, has been to represent Bremen' and Hans ,burgh, in the eyes , of, France, in the most unfa vourable light, as mere Continental appendages to England. In the conclusion of his Letter, there is a curious transfer of reasoning to the Eleaor, of Saxony.— The odious part of this is his intention, by means of faLie colouring, to excite by the plau sibility .of his inferences, to Ilwaken and confirm every prejudice in his favour. • We feel no inclination to investigate, or Inquire into the nature and tendepcy of the obje6tions ad dressed to the Saxon Minister. We would only re mark, in general ; with - respect to Germany, that in au Empire in which hitherto there have been more princely ; households than there are Prefeas or Sub-Prefels in France, articles of manufaCture and commerce would be in a very wretched condi tion, if England were ,blotted out of, the scale of existence. The remains of the feudal system—a degree of military mania—the want of external security, of order in the Interior,. and of public spirit—a super fluity of idle hands, and that passive obedience which has more weight than the voice of the Peo ple—it is These, I say, and neither Englishmen nor English manufaClures; which are the sources of all the misery in Germany. .It is. these that give a probability. ao, the appearance ; that the aEtivity and industry of all European' Nations may soon fall un der the Enecny and oppressor of trade; and at the footstool of a Foreign Nation ; in a word, under a miserable existence, which may bedragged on from one century - to another. If the Frankfort Letter-writer had only one spark. of 'magnanimity in his sbul, this lamentable, but' true picture of, things, could' not have escaped his observation ; to which his eyes, as *ell' as others, should have been open ; and he would also have shewn . more' reverence toWards the last monuments of the ancient grandeur of German trade and com merce. He, however, seems-to think it a very easy task to annihilate Hamburgh and Bremen ; but he has forgotten the infamy that• must attach to the aa of giving up the laborious itruatare of many centuries to sudden 'destruaion. He should have recolle&ed, that all human Constitutions are sub jest to certain inconvenienciea—and that there are even plants, which being once stripped of the moss that proteas their roots, must inevitably pe rish by the first - frost that follows. The calami ties and the wretchedness to which the People of Germany have. - been subjeaed by the late wars, might have furnished hint with a subject -for other Letters, in which he might have exhibited more penetration, more patriotism, and more esteem, CORN-EXCHANGE, FEB. 12.—Frorp the continu for the liberal manner of thinking peculiar to ance of short supplies of Wheat brought to this France. Market, this trade supports its price, though fe.v , But perhaps he wished to excite France to the sales are made to-day;- and having so little Barley,, prosecution of other views. Perhaps, he thinks it that , fetches rather better price ; as do White Pease may better suit the politics of France to increase' likewise ; very few small old Beans come to hand, the uncommon number of German mendicants, and they are dearer ; new Ticks 265. cud 3,(..)5. per, and finally to sow the seeds. of desperation flora quarter ; Oats are in but middling supply,and main- , one _end of the ..Continent to the other : and that taro last price; Flour is quoted nominally as per this may be necessary before a spirit of bitter re- i currency, but the trade is dull, and general sales ate verve can 'take rout in the hearts of the good People at less prides. of ,Germany. wheat 46. aOs a 7,5 oti Beans - at; o: Tick beans : a 57,s od However this may be, the whole of the Letter- F ine .t. ditto 7 3 2 6 5 , 2 3 7 4 5 ) : 0 0 : 1 oats , 4, 2. r 7 it 3 ,, (3 ,w writer's mode of thinking betrays a mind of a vul- a r i e y - 255 a 34s Ott I Poland ditty 3ms' gar cast :—lt exhaNt. a man, who, h.al be lived in , 3 al_ Matt - . 4s a 7os ott T IZape Seed bite Pease 374 a2s od e . ine F lOW 6:)S • 55. s France dUring t Revolutiun, would I,lave titeat Gley acs tt 35s od Seconds sj, 44:1- MUNDEIV is so much indisposed that SIMMONS wa§ last night obliged to be his substitute in Speed the Plough ; and, considering what a popular Cornedig4 he followed, acquitted hitnseif very successfully ia _Sir Able Handy. The part of Sir Philip Blond- Ard was resumed by POPE, who supported it in a very respe&able manner. EMEEIe diverted . the Audience on Monday night id apologizing for not being on ht§ post as the Sen tinel in Pizarro, by a slip of the tongue. Hain tended to state that his wife had just made an addi tion to his family ; but in the hurry .of his emotions he seemed to say that he himself had been' brought to bed. He soon, however, recovered himself,. and at least gave birth to some strokes- of pleasantry, which effeetually restored the Audience to good humour. A Sporting Gentleman Undertook, on Thursday last, for a wager of 20 guineas', to go to Shepperzon, a distanCe of 18 miles, in three hours. tie went the first' seven miles within an hour, and lost the wager on Hampton Common, where he stuck in the mud, and lust his shoes.—The same bet was taker, by another person, who won the wager . yesterday with ease, although far inferior in size . and reach t 4 thelormer, who, in athletic sports, was judged one of the first of the day. The former Gentleman, it is said, will attempt it over again for too guineas, on Saturday next, play or pay, and after that rutx the distance with any man in England. The following is extraaed from - Relf's American Gazette, dated Dec. 1, 1806: " We are informed .that the vile miscreant THOMAS PAINE, having been. visited by a second stroke of the palsy, is deeply jai pressed with theleinousness of a life spent in revil ing all religion, .and in contemning divine revelation ; and that lis in daily prac=tice of prayer for heavenly grace . and reconciliation."—Alas, poor Tom! A Convoy for the Elbe and Weser is petitioned 'for by the Merchants and Ship-owners at to sail from thence the 13th inst. with the Ships then ready for Hambro' and Bremen. A Convoy is ap pointed, and shortly expeded to arrive, to take the Ships loading at that Port for Portugal round to Sptt :head. •