The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-03-20 00:00:00

WMUNKiI

ENGLISH .OPERA-HOUSE.

PASSION WERE.
Tbis Dwain& MONDAY, Mutt 20; TeNtrtuenver, TURMAS% Mardi
31; WEDNESDAY, litareb ; and THURSDAY. Much
positively the LAST NIGHTS until next Year of the Lai:TOILS on
ASTRONOMY by Mr. 'BARTLEY.
Doom °pewit Half-pod Sit, and beef* at Seven. ,S

-
ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE.
MR. MATHEWS AT MObit
Os warm MONDAY, March 27, with an entirely new DoSeilsorsot,
in Two Parts. founded on his Observations on Characters,
14suius, and Pec-atiarttles, entitled
Nu. MATHEWS' INVITATIONS.
Pear 11I.—A Monopoly: orne, to be caned
THE CITY BARGE
Doors opens at Palf.past Seven (Instesd of Seven, as beretatine) I the
Performance bcgint at Mean precisely.

NrittOlt Vt•eo.

As Balsams Passe commenced pui•ttrbtag Saterday akoralag es bale-

Past five o'Lloris

LONDON, MONDAY, NiAacz stO, MK.

The following are the Bulletins of the last two days re-
lating to the health of his Majesty.
" Ling's Lodge, Windsor Park, Marsh 19,19!6.
" The King has had another good night, and continues better.
(Signed) " 11 asar IiALTOIID."
" King's Lodge, Windsor Park, March 1,7, PM.
" The King has had but hale sleep I.‘st night.

" His Majesty is much the same as yesterday.
(Signed) " Rural' HAttoato,
" MA FTL4IIW 3014,1
Ha HEYILZIIT SOUTIVILT."

The French papers of Fads), contain accounts which
shot, that the doubts about the capture of BAZAN, which
have been repeated in some English journals, are entirely
without foundation. Attempts continue to be made by the
Council of State to procure the dismi.sion and banishment
of such persons as are not likely to favour their views ; hut
the Influence of RECACHO bas hitherto prevented the ac-
complishment of their object. The INFANTS have pro-
posed a change of Mini...try to their brother, but without
effect.

A treaty of commerce, similar to that which has been
rejected by the English Government, is said to have been
entered into between France and Brazil, but it will not
be ratified till the English treaty be finally settled. The
Government seems to be well acquainted with the designs
of the Constitutionalists, and has formed a corps of obser-
vation, under the command cf MON ET Ls, along the coast,
from Valenti ato the Straits of Gibraltar. The Apostolical
party hassucceeded in gaining over not only the Royalist
velunteers, but several regiments of the line, and even some
of the King's Guard. A party of the latter, at Alcala, in-
sulted a preacher in the pulpit f.?.r recommending toleration.
The project which the party had formed, of augmenting
the number of Royalist volunteers, was submitted to the
Council of State, but was opposed by the Minister of War,
ZANDMAN% and most of the other Ministers, except Dal.
I STAN TAN), who tendered his re,ignation in consequence.
This was not accepted, but it is believed that he will not
be able in his present circumstances to hold his situation
much longer. The Apostolieal party, however, are not
without hopes of counteracting the measures of Za u ens No
and his adherents by means of the Marquis of CARYAJAL.,
who has been appointed Inspector of the Royalist volun-
teers at Madrid. A deputy has been sent from the Ha-
vannah, to recommend, as supposed, an accommodation
between Spain and her revolted Colonies.
. A comparative statement of the price of corn in different
countries of Europe, has been publh:hcd in the French pa-
pers; from which we deduce the following results : via.
—that England is the dearest country in Europe, and
Spain the next—that in Pomerania and at Ham burgh corn is
one third of the price that it is in England—that Ss. in
France are equal to 9s. in England. In Italy and Sicily
corn is cheaper by one half than it is in England. •
It appears by the accounts from Greece that I artanim
PAcIIA has abandoned, for a time, his predatory excursions.
Ile follows in this, it is said, the advice of the Austrians
who have convinced him cf the imprudence of such expe-
ditions, and of the necessity of protracting the war, cutting
off the Greeks in detail, and ruining their cause from the
want of money and provisions. tVith this view be has
despatched REDSCHID PACII A to prevent Coultas and
FAUVIER on the side of Attica, from disturbing the siege
of Missolonghi.
[From the Pi?cte of Frilly.]
31,Locif 6.

(PRIVATE cottnta?oxnascr.)
Letters from Oeihnela say that Dm Joan Fernandez Baran
(brothsr of Don Anthony), Don Jure Pardo Figacroce. and pavan
other Constitutionalists, had just been shot there. Colonel Don
An!hony Fernandez had not yet been execi.tesl, being at the point
of death.

• PARIS, MARCH Id.
To-day the King received in a private audience his Serene Iligh-
ness the Duke of Brunswick.

DEPARTMENT OF TETE INTERIOR.

Average prito of the hectolitre of wheat of v:aious foreign mar-
ke,s, drawn up from the Isteet bulletins received at this office:—

Pieces. I. en. Prices. Piacr s." Date& Prima.
England - Jan. 2.3 -27 f. 32c. CtritaVee-}
Jan. Pt - lit. Poe.
Antwerp . Jan. 31 -13 f. 11c. clita -
Amsterdam Jan. 31 -12 f. 22:- Tuscany - Jan. 31 -13 f. 96c.
Stettin . Jan. 31 - 9f. 7.. Patielona - Dec. 26 -20 f. flc.
Ilamburgh Feb.lo -11 f 31:. Sicily - Jan. 5 - 14?. 106 c.
Nice . . Feb.ls -17 f. 14,:. Samander, 19211, -20 f. 91c.
Trieste . Jan. 21 -10 f. 11c.

Average price in France, Ftb.2B. !lir. 26c.
The mate of the foreign corn-markets ottas no remarkable fact.
The prices are in general stationary ; we olmerve, however, that
the decline u little hi the porta of the Mediterranean.
FRENCH Ft:SIM—PARIS. MAtCH 17.—Five per Cents. 96. f.
AO c. ; Three per Cents. Wrf. fsc. ; Bank B:CA, 2001.1 f. Nea-
politan Renter, 72f. CuSc. Spaidell ditto, Bf. Spaniel' Loan, 45f.
Exchunge on Londoo--One month, 23t. boc.; Turco montha,
251. 25c.—Cours Arthenthoe.

We think our brethren on the north of the Tweed can-
not but feel highly satisfied with the alacrity with which
the CitaNcatt on of the Excitienta came forward to
move for the appointment of a Select Commirteo,ro inquire
into the state of the circulation of their notes under the
value of bi., and to report on the expediency of an altera-
tion in the law as it at present exists. The result of the
investigation which this momentous subject will there un-
dergo, will be to prove, either that the extinction of small
notes in that part of the United Kingdom will tend ma-'
terially to diminish its prosperity, by withdrawing a circu-
lating medium essential to the well-being of its trade and
commerce ; or, on the other hand, that its paper currency,
by creating an illusive and fictitious wealth, places its
prosperity on an unsure and precarious fountiation, and
which can only be rendered solid and permanent by a me.
tallic currency. We think it likely that the evidence ad-
duced before the Committee will serve to 'hew, that the
evils and disadvantages of a paper currency arc such as to
make it matter of extreme difficulty toil Tide, with regard to
Scotland, on which side the scale preponderates. Mischievous
as the consequences of an excessive issue of country-bank
paper have been in England, they may be found, on in-
quiry, to have arisen from causes which either do not exist
at all in Scotland, or that do not exist in the same degree,
or with the same influence. These causes must first be
developed before it can be decided how farthey are local, or
to what extent they operate on both pirts of the kingdom
equally--Biocto infra 'twos, el extra--for without this it
will be impossible to say whether the reasons which govern
in the one case, apply with equal force to the other. Ar-
guing d priuri, and without reference to any facts which

THE BRITISH PRESS.

may be disclosed before the Committee, we should incline
strongly, with the CH•NCELLOA of the &CHl:atilt(' in
placing both parts of the United Kingdom on the same
footing; but in legislating on a subject in which any error
iu policy may lead to very serious evil, the public cannot
but applaud the justice as well as the wisdom of Govern-
ment in avoiding all precipitation, and of subjecting the
policy of extending the alteration of the currency to Scot-
land to a deliberate and unbiassed examination.

It is no doubt true that the exchanges, twice a-week, by
all the Banks throughout Scotland, and the constant prac-
tice of paying the difference either in gold or bills on Lon-
don, operates as a mutual check upon any irregular tran-
sactions, and greatly tends to prevent any excessive issue of
their notes. But this practice is not confined to Scotland;
it is followed by all the branches of every Provincial Bask
of repute and stability throughout England; and, of course
—as tar ILI the argument applies—with the same beneficial
effects.

'f be cash-accounts in Scotland form a peculiar feature
of much greeter importune*, and will deserve great weight
in governing any conclusions which the Committee may
arrive at, on combining the whole result of the evidence that
may be placed before them. ADAM SMITH has explained
the nature of these accounts very concisely in the following
extract, which is important to be understood, as it makes a
part of the Scotch system of Banking, the utility of which
well deserves to be studied on this side of Edinburgh, and
which will be found, we think, upon inquiry, to be that
part of the system, from the disturbance of which the chief
danger is to be apprehended.

" The commoner of Seotlandlwae inconsiderable when the two
first banking companies were established; and those companies
would have had but little trade, had they confined their business to
the discounting of bills of exchange. They invented, therefore,
another method of Issuing their ptoreinsory notes, by granting
what they called rash accounts, that la, by giving credit to the
extent of a certain sum (two or three thousand pounds for example)
to an individual who could procure two persona of undoubted credit
and good landed estate to become surety for him, that whatever
money should be advanced to him, within the anm for which the
credit had been given, should be repaid upon demand, together
with the legal interest. Credits of this kind are, I believe. Com-
mon/3, granted by banks and bankers in all different puts of the
world. But the easy terms upon which the Scotch banking com-
panies accept of repayment are, so far all I know, peculiar to them,
and have perhipa been the principal cause both of the great trade
of those companies, and of the benefit which the country has re-
ceived from it.

" Whoever has a credit of this kind with one of those corn-
patties, and barrows a thousand pounds upon it, for example, may
rem this mat piece-meal, by twenty and thirty pounds at a time,
the company deducting a proportionable part of the interest of the
great sum from the day on which each of those small sums Is paid
in, till the whole be in this manner repaid. All merchants, there-
fore, and almost all men of business, find it convenient to keep
such cash accounts with thorn, and are thereby interested to pro-
mote the trade of those companies, by readily receiving their notes
in all payments, and by encouraging all theme with whom they have
any influence to do 'he same. The banks, when their customerf
apply to them for money, generally advance it to them in their own
promissory Dotes. Thole the merchants pay away to the manufac-
turers for goods, the ntaaufactureta to the farmers for materials and
provisions, the farmers to their landlords for rent, the landlords
repay them to the merchants for the couventenries and luxuries
with which they supply them, and the merchants again return them
to the banks in order to balance their cash anmonts, or to replace
what they may have borrowed of them ; and thus almost the whole
money business of the country is transacted by means of them.
Hence the great trade of those companies.
" 13y means of those cash accounts every merchant can, without
imprudence, carry co a greater trade than he otherwise could do.
If there are two inerchnots,ene in London sod &bandage in Win-
burgh, who erupt sy equal stocks in the same branch of trade, the
Edinburgh merchant can; without imprudence, carry on a greater
trade, and give easoloyment to a greeter number of people than
the London mercits ot. The Loudon merchant must always keep
by him a consider•nle sum of money, either lo his own coffers or
in those of his banker, who gives him no Interest for it, in order to
amen the demands continually coming upon him for payment of
the goods which he purchases upon eredit. Let the ordinary
amount of this sun: be supposed five hundred pounds. The value
in bin warehouse trust always be less by five hundred pounds than
it would have bees, had hr not been obliged to keep such a sum
unemployed. lid us suppose that be _generally disposes of his
whole stock up&t hand, or of goods to the voice of ki s
whole stock uporliand, once in the year. By being obliged to
keep so great a ,tum unemployed, he mast sell in • year Ire
hundred poundOorth less goods than he might otherwise have
done. His annial profits most be less by all that he could have
made by the sale of five tuntired pounds worth more goods; and
the Dumber of p,nole einpktel in,preparing his goods for market
must be less by till those that five hundred potinde ore stock could
have employed. The merchant In Edinburgh, OD the other hand,
keeps no money unemployed for answering oath occasional de-
mands. Whets they actually, Wks, triton him, he satisfies them
from his cash a ;fount witil the Batik, and gradually replaces the
sum borrowed ,iith the An" or paper which comes in from the
occasional sideo of his goods. With the same stock, therefore, he
can without imprudence have at all times in his warehouse a larger
quantity of goods than dot London merchant ; and can thereby
both make a gre %ter profit himself, and give constant employment
to a greater num bee of industrious people, who prepare those goods
fee the market. Bence the great benefit which the country has
derived from this trade.

" The facility of discounting bills of exchange, it may be
thought, indeed, gives the English merchants a conveuiency equi-
valent to the cc sh accounts of the Scotch merchants. But the
Scotch merchants. it must be remembered, can discount their bills
of exchange as ersily as the English merchants ; and have, besides,
the additional conveniency of their cash accounts."

The advantk,e accruing to trade from the accommoda-
tion thus Worded, has, no doubt, proved very considerable.
Any change in the currency which should have the effect
of either putting a stop to, or greatly curtailing, those ad-
vances, might possibly produce more evil than would be
counterbalanced by a diminution of the paper currency.
The mighty interests which are involved in the inquiry
into which the Committee of 'WA Houses are about to
enter, will netestarily induce them to go fully into
the subject of the Cash Accounts, from the conviction
that it is to thi~ point, beyond all others, that their
deliberations will require to be directed. It is a part
of the system of banking in Scotland, so intimately
interwoven with all the mercantile and monied con-
cerns of its whsle trading population, that it must neeessa-
riiy press itself upon them as a matter of separate
consideration. It is a system of accommodation which
hcs, no doubt, contributed to rear her commerce
to its present high condition, and to diffuse that spirit
of enterprise which has made her what she is. We
are aware of the great difficulties which surround the sub-
ject ; but Ministers have shown, that notwithstanding the
decided conclusions to which their own inquiries have
brought them, they are desirous that it should undergo all
the detailed and comprehensive investigation of a Parlia-
mentary Committee, having, themselves, no other anxiety
than to proceed in that course from which the greatest
good may be expected. They have no wish to apply cor-
rectives where correctives are not wanted. In what they
are to provide for, and in what they arc to provide against,
they would fain consult • the wants and the welfare of the
ration at large, and nothing is farther froin them than to
sacrifice the interests of one part to the security of the
other. The English publia are persuaded of this, and
Mot neat Mataciaowatora has lowered his reputation,
al;d hurt the Millie of 1:5 conutrymcn, by thorebelliounlis-

play of his bravery in -defence of " things as they are:"
His mind—fertile and forcible as its powers arc—has not
been trained in a school which fits it for this sort of war-
fare.
He is a poet of the very first order, but as a poli-
tical economist he is wofully low in the scale. How can it
be otherwise? How can aily one, whose imagination has
been wandering from his cradle amid tilts and tournaments,
be expected to enlighten us on the un-ideal topic of high
and low prices? What light can the realms of enchant-
ment and chivalry throw into the bustling regions of bul-
lion and small notes? The impetuous Knight, moreover,
disdains all moderation—his epistles are written with the
pin, not of a poet, but of a clansman. Instead of the voice
of reason, we hear nothing but the whistling of the war-
pipe and the sound of the pibroch. His arguments make
their approach like the " hennaed Pine" of ROLF:RIC

" Nearer and nearer as they bear,
Spears, pikes, and axes Hash in air."

That the abolition of one and two-pound notes is a mea-
sure which may deeply affect the interests of Scotland,
there is no doubt; but it is on this account that it behoves
us to come to the discussion of it dispassionately. On no
subject can violence and intemperance be more out of place.
It preents many topics •on which there is much informa-
tion yet to be gathered, and which we shall not fail to ad-
vert to, but to do so at present would extend this article
beyond all reasonable bounds.

CITY, 9ATURTAT EvEmir°.

Business was a good deal sought after, and speculatioh
was rather on the alert at the Money Market to-day, which
is likely to remain in a feverish state until the details of
the financial arrangement of Government shall have been
submitted to the public. The variation in the pride; to-
day has seareely amounted to per cent. lu the morn-
ing the prevalence of buyers led to an advance in Console
for Account to 78.1, but they receded in the course of the
afternoon to 77k. The price of Consols for 3loney:and Ac-
count are precisely similar, as money is by no means
scarce in the Stock Market, although in the City, gene-
rally, it is still in great demand. Much doubt still exists
as to the Stock to be created, to be. substituted for Exche-
quer Bills. From the condition of the New 4 per Cents.
within the last two days, which have been sold at 96, it
is not likely that, if the amount of that Stock should be
augmented, it wilt undergo any material depredation.
A variety of opinions are entertained as to the state of
the Account which terminates on the 12th of next month ;
but the sudden re-action in Consols, particularly on Thurs-
day, has led to the supposition thst the Jobbers have not
yet purchased the Stock which they borrowed, to.a large
amount, on the last settling day ; from one individual
alone, we believe, to the amount of half a million sterling.
The transactions in Exchequer Bills today have been
devoid of interest. The premium is steady at from 45. to
65., and India Bonds at from 2s. to 3s. premium.
There has been much more doing in the Foreign Stock
Market to-day than during any other part of the week;
and in some of the South American Securities a very rapid
improvement has taken place, in which a great degree of
confidence has been placed, in consequence of the dividends
on the Chili Bonds having been advertised. This Stock
opened in the morning at 49, but this afternoon has been
done at 61, being an improvement of .5 per cent. since
Monday. The rise iu Colombian and Mexican has been
equally extensive: the former have risen from 83 to 67i,
and have shown much elasticity at this advance, without,
however, any large purchases on the part of the public.
Peruvian Bonds have fluctuated between 31 and 33, but
fell 1 per cent. before the close of business. But while
the Republican Securities are undergoing this advance,
Brazil Bonds have remained steady at their former quota-
tions.

There has likewise been a bribk demand for the Northern
Securities, which have Improved about 1 per cent., as a
matter of course, bearing much higher quotations; the
Northern Bonds are less susceptible of any material change
than those of the Republican Covernments. Russian
Bonds have been sold as high as while the Danish 3
per cents. have risen in nearly the same proportion. Aus-
trian continue to be much neglected.
Shares are still unsaleable.

We had expected to have had to communicate the defi-
nitive arrangements fcr negotiating between Liverpool and
the Bank of England, in regard of such advantages as Liver-
pool may be disposed to take of the O'er of the Bank to
advance money upon goods. These arrangements have not,
however, yet been completed.
The distress for money, in some parts of the country, is
without parallel. A house carrying on an extensive busi-
ness as drysalters, sent an agent into the northern counties,
authorised to collect debts to the amount of 90,000/. After
an absence of six weeks, he returned from his tour with
no more than MO/. !

We hare particular pleasure in remarking the symp-
toms, although yet but feeble ones, of returning activity in
the trade of this manufacturing district. Goods hare been
a little more in demand, but at very low prices, and some
business has been done during the past week, at Leeds,
Bradford, and Huddersfield. The wool market of Wake-
field has experienced some little change for the better, both
ia prices and the quantity of business done.—lfrokefield
Jorrnal.

On Thursday last the Magistrates and Council of May-
bole transmitted petitions to both llouses of Parliament
against any alteration in the paper currency of Scotland.—
Glasgow Courier.

The Editor of the Leeds Mercury having been solicited
to examine the affairs of the Batik of Leeds, has stated that
it is next to a moral impossibility that the creditors should
ultimately fail to obtain 20s. in the pound upon their
claims, of whatever nature. It seems the amount of the
surplus assets of the Bank over the debts due from the
firm, exceeds 10,0001., and their small notes now in circu-
lation, both from the Leeds and Ripon Banks, do not ex-
ceed 6,000/.

HEREFOUD OLD Basta.—ln consequence of Messrs.
Bodenhatn and Co. suspending payment on Tuesday last,
a severe run took place on the firm of Messrs. Holloway,
Cooke, and talc's. of the Old Bink, in Hereford ; and
the panic, for which there was not the slightest cause as
respected their establishment, appearing to increase, the
respectable members of that hank determined to close their
firm, adopt prompt measures to pay offall demands against
them, and relinquish a profession which for years had
been conducted on principles of discriminating prudence
and high integrity, honourable to themselves and bene-
ficial to the public. By this determination the city of
Hereford is now without a hank, and the consequent in-
convenience can better be imagined than described. On
Wednesday Messrs. Holloway and Co. published a state-
ment, signed by Sir J. (7otterell, M.l'., B. Eitldulph, Esq.
and It. J. Powell, Esq. who tad carefully and rigidly
investigated the situation of their affairs, front which it
appears that, after deducting all bet and even doubtful
debts, there is a balance of 66,18.:t/. Us. 7d. remaining in
favour of the partners (without taking into account the
property of the late head of the firm, the lamented Colonel
Matthews) after every demand, either as to the bank or
their private concerns, shall have been settled. Their bills
are taken in Hereford as usual; and it is asubject of the
deepest regret to the respectable inhabitants, that the
groundless and selfish panic which influenced the centruct
of those, who, within a short period, on three late occa-
sions, assailed this bank, at last induced men of such
long-tried and acknowledged rectitude •ia public and pri-
vate life, to close an establishment, the value of which
will only be duly appreciated now the public are deprived
of it.

The average importations of tea by the East India Com-
par•.y, for five years prior to 1821, amounted to 26,416,219
lbs.; the prime cost to 1,717,216/. The tea consumed in
Europe and America is estimated at 32,000,e00 of pounds.
The petition for the abolition of colonial slavery will
close this day, and we are informed that the signatures
amount to nearly 30,000.—Glusgote Chronicle.
For eight days past the weather has been dry, and highly
favourable for forwarding the country labour. During the
week the sowing has been going briskly on in every direc-
tion round this city. The valuable commodity, March
duet, was never more plentiful.--Gla.vic oiricle.