The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-01-18 00:00:00

TUFF. BUJ ISII PRESS.

u will satisfy the country that i:A new political instructors
are urocecding upon wise princip es. We are inclined, we
confess, to suspect the soundness of any system which
would lead a great country like our own to seek great
wealth, at !Aran., r sacra ere eqpittit To us this lan-
guage appears to involve a contradiction. Itreulth is a term
of loose import ; it has no value hut is it contributes to
the ti uc happiness and prrisperi.y of ,a nation, and these
depend on the degree in which i:s agricultural, manufac-
turing, and commercial industry is emploteed most profit-
ably, antl to the greatest moral advantage. All these
branches of industry must flourish together; the moment
any weryire of either is among the conditions of increasing•
the general snick of ifeblie wealth, we feel satisfied tha
there is some delusion in the process.
In what, moreover, we would ask, does the capital which
is to he thus withdrawn from land exist, when the land
itself, being thrown out of cultivation, ceases to yield a
rent? It is idle to talk of turning the stream into a new
channel when you have destroyed the Aprtng. It is most
desirable, no doubt, to have corn cheap ; hut we have the
annual interest of an immerse public debt to pay, and if
the proprietors of land are to contribute towards its pay-
ment, they must be so far protretedes to preserve to them
the means of doing so. Were it not for this public debt
we might accede to the demand of unrestricted freedom,
and throw open the corn trade to the whole world ; but as
it is, this is not possible. It is the interest of the agricul-
turists to be able to grow corn cheap ; but it must be a
cheapness including profit. To withhold from them all
public promotion so completely as to oblige them to wills-
d-aw their tweet* is, in other words, to seal their ruin ;
when that is done, the ruin of the manufacturing interests
will inevitably follow; for we may rest assured that the
one will never long survive the other.
It is a fearful thing to commit the concerns of a great
empire to the mercy of any political system, however
plausible. This is a defect in all such systems, which
preponderates against all the combined advantages they
pretend to bestow. They are Dot built cn facts. They
have no fianndation in experience. Look at the state of the
Silk Trade at this moment. Couple this with the ferment
which agitate. the manufacturing community in all its
borders, and then ask, what anticipations of ultimate
utility can we expect to realise from prospects so forbid-
' ding ? If we enteromslifurthcr into the labyrinth, we shall
never, we fear, find our way out again by any lights which
the political Economists can furnish. There is in this
country a spirit of enterprire, and a mass of capital, that
will bear her through all the difficulties, be they what
they may, which she may ho called upon to encounter.
But her commerce must not be tampered with : if experi-
ments arc to be let loose upon her in that quarter, she
is gone. The interests of the agriculturist, the manufac-
turer, and the merchant, are so woven one into ano-
ther,—they are linked together in a manner so in-
scrutable to human foresight, that it is extremely diffi-
cult to estimate beforehand the practical effects of any
theory. Looking to what is already before them, our po-
litical Economists nosy find enough to forewarn them of the
magnitude of those calamities which their systems may
produce, and will make them tremble to break up that ve-
nerable soil out of which have sprung, hitherto, such abund-
ant and generous fruits.

CITY, TvzsDAY EVENING.

The transactions in the English Market were almost ex-
clusively confined to making up accounts for the settling-
day on Thursday. The account this morning has cer-
tainly a heavy appearance, and many well-informed per-
sons look forwird confidently to its being a Ball account ;
notwithstanding the great scarcity of Money Stock that
existed even up to the last week. Consols for this Ac-
count closed at 811!, and for that in February at Oi. Ex-
chequer Bills have again declined to 2s. discount, and the
appearance of the market is unfavourable.
Foreign Securities !rave again relapsed into an uninter.
eating state, and the business to-day in thews was extremely
limited. Colombian Bonds closed at 57 ex tliv; Mexican
Six per Cents. 64; Brazilian Bonds, 65; Guatemala Scrip,
19 19 dls.; Basilan Bonds, 814 2 ; Spanish ditto, 134 ;
Greek ditto, 14 15; and Danish ditto, 60. A great deal
of interest is encitedlor the Nnalith settling day on Thurs-
day, which mutt natessatily be en exceedingly heavy one,
in oonsequente of the fialtuatton In Consols.
The delivery of Rum from the warehouses has been very
considerable since the reduttion of the duty ; but the
Coffee and Sugar markets btu been fiat, from the circum-
stance of the failure in Mincing-lane on Saturday, and the
one in the early part-of last week there: 500 hogsheads of
Sugar, the property of one of the houses that has suspended
its payments, are to be sold to-morrow (tiil; day), which
may, we fear. probably have a tendency to render the
market still heavier. A public sale of foreign Coffee took
place, which was all bought in, because the owner of it
did not feel inclined to submit to a reduction of price.
Accounts from Warsaw state that, so determined was
the Grand Duke Constantine not to ascend the throne
of Russia, after he heard of the oath of allegiance to
him having been taken at Saint Petersburgh, that he not
only repeated his renunciation, but actually directed relays
of horses to be in readiness that be might withdraw him-
, self beyond the bounas of the empire.
The Brussels Oracle says—" We announced that Co-
lonel Gustaffsen. Ex-King of Sweden, upon learning the
death of the Emperor Alexander, had departed precipi-
tately from Mayence. We have since learned that be has
ar.,ve,.. at 11.1111ittr."

The Sandwich, Lisbon packet, arrived yesterday, bring-
ing letters to the 7th January. The Marlborough packet,
which sailed on New Year's Day, is not yet come into port.
The letters by the Sandwich are entirely without public
interest.
Letters receis*Ueom VittporwisteMateetetl September,
state that his Maiesty't ship Tamar was to sail iu a few
days for Rio Janeim and England : she had specie on
board for the English merchants to a very considerable
amount.

Letters from the Cape of Good Hope, dated the 4th
November, state that his Excellency the Governor had
ordered offlsial reports respecting losses by sea near the
Cape to he.unmediately transmitted to him. Several very
long statements respecting the less of the Mu!grave Castle
had in consequence been sent in.
The Heighington, lifilson, is arrived from Penang off
Falmouth. She brings letters to the 41st August, which,
however, contain no news. The Heighington left the
Cape on the Sth November.
Letters from Penang, later] 20th August, state that an
embassy, under Capt. Burney, hail been sent off to the'
capital of Siam, for the purpose, it is said, of obtaining
further assurance of the friendly disposition of the Sia-
mese, and to ascertain whether the report of armaments
had any foundation.
By the Crown, which arrived off Liverpool on Sunday
evening, advises have been received ham Calcutta to the
end of August, 19 days later than those previously received.
Sir Alexander Campbell's bead-quarters were still at Procne.
The Crown paws, a ship from Rangoon, coming up the
river Ifoogidev, and the Captain reported that all was
tranquil at that place, as well as at Arracan. The in-
tx from other parts of India is not of prominent
interest.

The 'steam vetiael EnterpHie; heittird td fn,lia, was 'spoken
with on the tdth Orr. 34, 80, small lat., 29. cast longi-
tude. by a merchant ship, arrived from Penalig.
The new notes of the Batik of Ireland are now in cir-
culation. They are of an enlarged slit, and beautiful ap-
pearance.
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