The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-01 00:00:00

,';SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS..

An article in the Chronicle of Monday last
seems to have produced a strong sensation in
the City. No revolution was ever yet effected
without giving pain to some individuals. The
Lord Mayor's Committees have, it seems, so
managed matters, that it has been deemed expe-
dient to get rid of them ; but though it is per-
fectly well understood why this determina-
tion was taken, there are few who like to
state the reasons in a plain and explicit man-
ner. Mr. Deputy Wood attacked the writer of
the paragraph in the Morning Chronicle with
great fury. But really we are at a loss to see in
what respect the paragraph was unfounded. Al-
derman Harmer said he had great confidence in
the Committee ; but it would appear that his
confidence did not extend to reposing any trust
in them. "In limiting the number of tickets to
the Guildhall, the Lord Mayor Elect and the
Sheriffs (he said) were only anxious that all the
guests should be provided with seats. Upon the
last occasion so many tickets had been issued
by the Committee, that the friends of the Lord
Mayor and the Sheriffs were left to shift in
many instances for themselves." Alderman
Harmer's confidence in the Committee reminds
us of Mr. Rothschild's confidence in a gentle-
man's word. When examined by the Committee
on the finance and accounts of the East India
Company last year, he gave an explanation of
what he meant by confidence. The following
question having been put to him—" The value
of a cargo, of course, must depend upon exa-
mination : would you take a gentleman's word
as to the value, or examine the cargo ?"—he
answered, most characteristically, " I would take
the gentleman's word, and exmine the cargo be-
sides." The Lord Mayor Elect and Sheriffs find
that the Committees are deserving of every con-
fidence, but that it would be better not to trust too
much to them. It is quite clear that the Lord
Mayor is somewhat of Mr. Rothschild's opinion,
that there would be no harm in examining the
accounts of the Committee. "As for the
accounts of the expenditure of his Mayoralty,
he had, he must say, never yet seen them, and
he was rather astonished at the amount." Mr.
Figgins honestly owned " that very great mean-
nesses were practised by Lord Mayors' Commit-
tees, and he did not confine himself to general
charges, but stated, that in 1825 and 1822, the
Committees had acted with the utmost meanness;
that in one of them they had charged for a
barber, and a glover, and a cutler, and in both
they had accumulated upon the three individuals
who had to bear the brunt, a series of the most
useless and ridiculous expenses." It is quite
clear that the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs have
not set aside the Committee from any apprehen-
sion of excessive parsimony. The paragraph
in the Chronicle was a gross libel, it seems ;
but if it had been true to the letter, the
Lord Mayor and Sheriffs could not have
acted otherwise than they did. Mr. Deputy
Wood says, " the Committee of the Lord
Mayor and Sheriffs retired because they were
mistrusted." They were not distrusted, mind,
in consequence of the paragraph in the Morn-
ing Chronicle ; but they were distrusted ; and
the paragraph in the Morning Chronicle merely
endeavours to enlighten the public with respect
to :the cause of the distrust. Mr. Alderman
Harmer says, indeed, that the Committee were
not distrusted by him, but that the members of
the Committee could not trust one another.
" Several gentlemen on the Committee," he
said, " had declared that reform was necessary
i iCommittees of the kind. They were not
distrusted, but the Hon. Gentleman who says
so admitted to me that he could not control the
Committee." The public will have little dif-
ficulty in understanding the whole affair. The'
Common Councilmen are very worthy men, and
deserving of the utmost confidence; but in all
matters of eating and drinking at the expense
of others, it may be well to watch them closely.
—Morning Chronicle.
TThe following account of the commerce of
Portugal, drawn up under our direction, will,
we think, be found at once interesting and accu-
rate :—The commerce of Portugal dates its
origin from a very early period. At a time
when the Romans held possession of the country,
its exports of corn, wine, and oil, were not in-
considerable ; but confining our investigation to
a more mod ;rn epoch, we may reckon the com-
mencement of Portuguese commerce from the
year 1092, when the reign of the first dynasty
of monarchs began. From that period until
the present day the trade of Portugal has ex-
perienced a striking vicissitude of prosperity
and decay. At one time the gallant exploits
and valuable discoveries of the Portuguese
navy, and the enterprising spirit of the people
raised it to a pitch of enviable splendour, from
which it has since fallen in consequence of
the neglect of Government, the distractions of
war, and the encroachments of powerful rivals.
The mystery which the absurd jealousy of the
old system of Government threw round every
subject connected with the administration of
the kingdom, effectually concealed from the
eyes both of natives and foreigners the real
state of Portuguese commerce ; and it is not
therefore surprising that imperfect information,
and conclusions oftentimes come to on mere con-
jecture, should have given rise to various false no-
tions respecting this matter. Even its condition
during so late a period as a few years preceding the
removal of the Royal Family to Brazil has been
the subject of conflicting statements. By some
writers the trade then carried on has been de-
scribed as exceedingly trifling, while M. Balbi,
who enjoyed the privilege of inspecting official
documents, and who consequently is entitled to
the greatest credit, declares it to have " reached
such a point of splendour as, considering the
obstacles it had to encounter, the absence of
all internal trade, the small extent of the king-
dom, and the low amount of population, not
only equalled, but surpassed that of every otter
European state, England and Hamburg ex-
cepted." He also mentions that more than
five-sixths of the Portuguese trade is conducted
by native houses, some of them possessing very
considerable capital, and he records the name of
one merchant who has amassed a fortune of
upwards of 15,000,000 cruzados.* The most
lirilliant epoch of Portuguese commerce began
in 1600, and continued to 1595. During this
period the wealth acquired by the Portuguese
created among the nations with whom they
trafficked a very magnificent idea of their im-
portance ; and an old Persian geographer, con-
ceiving that no other power could by possibility
exist in the same quarter of the globe with
so
The gold cruzado, equal to 2s. 3d., and the milree
(a thousand reis), valued in gold, equal to 6'7 4.1. It
appears, however, from assays made at the London Mint,
in 1812, on modern silver crusrlos, that the average value
of the milree in silver may be estimated at 60d. or bs.
sterling.—Macculloch, Dic. Com. All accounts of money
exceeding 400,000 reis are kept is the cruzado, the value
pf which is 400 reis..—Baloi.

mighty a people, speaks of Portugal as the capi-
tal of Europe. It must not, however, be ima-
gined that the commerce of Portugal was sus-
tained by the internal resources of that country
alone. Blessed with a fertile soil, capable
of producing a great variety of exportable
articles, Portugal has, nevertheless, benefitted
but little from the advantages lavished on her by
nature ; and the want of proper communications
by roads, canals, or navigable rivers, has kept
stagnant the internal industry of the country. If,
then, we limit our view of Portuguese commerce
to that portion which depends on the exporta-
tion of the produce of Portugal, the balance ap-
pears anything but favourable ; but the case as-
sumes a different aspect when we take into our
consideration the trade which she fbrmerly car-
ried on by the aid of her colonies. The articles
which she imported from her establishments in
South America, Asia, and Africa, formed the
basis of a most profitable commerce, and the
dependency of Brazil was particularly valuable
to the Portuguese people. Being the only en-
trepot by means of which the produce of Brazil
could gain admission to the rest of Europe,
Portugal possessed in that country a source of
almost inexhaustible riches, But the opening
of the ports of Brazil to the ships of all nations,
which took place on the government being
transferred to Rio de Janeiro, the introduction
of foreign wines, the occupation of Lisbon by
the French, and, as M. Balbi adds, the admis-
sion of British manufactures into the mother
country as well as the colony, on payment of
half the amount of duty imposed on the
importation of the goods of other countries,
inflicted a severe blow on the commerce of
Portugal ; for the monopoly which the Portuguese
had hitherto exclusively enjoyed of supplying the
wants of the inhabitants of this vast and rich
part of the world was thereby opened to the
merchants of other countries. The principal
articles imported into Portugal from Brazil are
sugar, cotton, skins and hides, tobacco, coffee,
rice, cocoa, Peruvian bark, indigo, gold, sarsa-
parilla, ipecacuanha, Brazil wood, building wood,
diamonds, and other precious stones, brandy,
wax, copper, cinnamon, whale oil and whalebone,
ginger, balsam of copaiva. The Brazil wood,
tobacco, and diamonds, are Royal monopolies;
but, owing to the improvident manner in which
the wood has been cut by the Government agents,
it is now rarely found within several miles of the
coast. The quantity of Brazil wood imported
into England is but inconsiderable. The trade
in salt and the whale fishery also used to belong
to the Crown, but for many years past they have
been declared open. In return for these articles
Portugal exports to Brazil wine, butter, dried fish,
oil, brandy, salt, Dutch cheese, vinegar, bacon,
biscuit, flour, iron, worked and in bars, arti-
cles in copper, tin, lead, and other metals, medi-
cines, colours, acids, spirits, pitch, tar, paper,
books, parasols, house furniture and church
decorations, mirrors, window glass, spectacles,
bugles, woollen cloth, German linen, cotton
cloth, cambric, &c. The immense importance
of the Brazilian trade to Portugal is demon-
strated by the fact of its being considerably
more extensive than that of all her other pos-
sessions put together. The following tables
exhibit the amount of trade carried on by Por-
tugal with Brazil, Madeira, the Azores, and
the Portuguese establishments in Asia and Africa.
The three years, 1796, 1806, and 1819, have
been selected, for the purpose of showing the
gradual increase and decay of the trade :

IMPORTS INTO PORTUGAL IN 1796.
Value in Reis.
From Brazil... .. 11,474,863,935
Asia 1,667,063,372
Africa
Madeira and the Azores 246,049,485

Total 13,413,265,042
IN 1806.

From Brazil
Asia
Africa
Madeira and the Azores 118,016,014

Total 16,103,975 250
IN 1519.

From Brazil
Asia 1,585,490,637
Africa
Madeira and the Azores 310,393,877

Total 9,413,093,583
EXPORTS FROM PORTUGAL IN 1796.
Value in Reis.
To Brazil 6,982,356,245
Asia
Africa

Madeira and the Azores... 269,887,825

Total

7,527,648,710
IN 1806.

To Brazil
Asia 1,622,806,430
Africa 777,365,900
Madeira and the Azores 488,043,325

Total

11,314 313,554
IN 1819.

To Brazil
Asia
Africa
bladeira and the Azores 530,625,210

Total

The trade of the eastern coast of Africa is
comprised under the head of Asia. Goa is the
mart for the productions of India, Macao for

those of China. The other settlements export
and import articles of much the same sort as
those which compose the Brazilian trade, with

the exception of Angola and Benguela, on the
western coast of Africa, which furnish a supply
of slaves for the market of Brazil. In the ac-
count of the commerce of Portugal with other
nations England holds a conspicuous station.

It is well known that the relations between the
two countries are of a very old date, and so early
as the year 1353, it is recorded that Edward
111. gave the Portuguese, by treaty, the right of
fishing off the coast and ports of England for fifty
years. The period of commerce most profitable
to the English was from 1722 to 1738, during
which time the balance in their favour amounted
to more than 1,000,0001. sterling annually. From

1797, two years after the Portuguese had extended
to other nations the privileges before exclusively
enjoyed by the English, to 1811, the balance
was constantly in favour of Portugal, with the
exception of the two years 1800 and 1808. In
1811 Portugal lost by her transactions with
England 43,090,000 cruzados ; in 1812
26,601,000 cruzados ; and in 1813 29,550,000
cruzados. Two thirds of the importations from
England are received by Lisbon, which returns
only one third of the exportations. Oporto
gains greatly by the exportation of wine for
England. The principal articles imported from
this country are woollen cloths and stuffs, butter,
salt fish, cheese, salted meat, copper, lead, iron,

tin, toys and trinkets, steel andiron tools, coal,
&c. The articles exported by Portugal in return
are cotton, wines, oranges, citrons, indigo, oil,
ipecacuanha, salt, dried fruits, &c. The follow-
ing tables show the state of the commercial
transactions of England and Portugal in the

three years we 'have before seleeted—naThely,
1796, 1806, and 1819 :--
IMPORTS FROM ENGLAND.

Value in Reis.
1796 4,951,737,334
1806 6,587,150,292
1819 7,466,156,836
EXPORTS TO ENGLAND.

Value in Reis.
1796...
1806 8,201,116,990
1819 4,209 087,095
The insports from England to Portugal ex-
ceed those of any other nation. What the
present condition of Portuguese commerce is it
would be superfluous to describe. There can
scarcely exist a person so dull as not to perceive
that a state of anarchy is incompatible with the
progress of peaceful occupations, and that
capital, which gives motion to the springs of
industry, and imparts vitality to commerce, will
not long remain in a country where all property
is insecure. The intolerance and despotism of
the late Government have, as might be expected,
paralyzed trade, and destroyed the energies of
the people ; but the eye gladly turns from the
melancholy picture of the past to the fair pros-
pect which seems opening on the future.
Times.

The civil war still rages in the north of Spain ;
and, it would appear by the latest intelligence in
the French Papers, with yet varying success.
Extinguished by the superior power of the Go-
vernment troops in one district, or kept down
by their temporary presence in another, the
spirit of revolt flies away to other quarters, where
it breaks out with fresh vigour, and shows
throughout a vivacity which, though not per-
haps formidable enough to create fears for the
,
ultimate result, is nevertheless quite sufficient to
give occupation and uneasiness to the ruling
party. Hitherto the strife has been confined to
the provinces of Navarre and Biscay. Now it is
reported to have reached Catalonia and Asturias,
though the former was counted amongst the
Queen's steadiest supporters. The Carlists are
said to have broken out at a little town called
Vic, to have encountered the Governor, killed
him, and dispersed his followers. It was also
reported on the Bourse, on Tuesday afternoon,
that an Aide-de-Camp of General Harispe had
arrived in town, bringing intelligence of an in-
surrection in the Asturias ; and that Cuebillas,
a former Chief of Guerillas against the French,
and afterwards one of the leaders of the Army of
the Faith (in 1822-23), had taken the field
for Don Carlos. The Marquis of Torre
Alta, lately appointed member of the Junta of
St. Sebastian by General Castagnon, and the
Duke of Grenada, a Grandee, had joined the
Carlists of Biscay. With these exceptions, the
tendency of the desultory accounts from Spain
in the French papers is all the other way. At
Tolosa, in Guipuscoa, which seems to be the
head-quarters of the party, though the bulk of
the people are said to be indifferent to the cause,
the Carlists were attacked upon the 22d ; but
so vigorous was their resistance that the affair
ended in a drawn battle. Next day the combat
was renewed, and in the result the Carlists were
broken and dispersed. The latest accounts from
Madrid were brought by M. Mignet, who left
that city on the 22d inst. At the period of his
departure it was known in Madrid that the
priest Merino had declared in favour of Don
Carlos, and organized several bands of Guerillas
in the direction of Lerma and Aranda. At
Madrid and the chief provincial capitals all was
reported as still tranquil. A change had taken
place in the Spanish Ministry, but not of
so conclusive a character as to point intel-
ligibly to any material change in the
policy of the Government. The Count Ofalia,
who had come into office at the same time
with Zea Bermudez, but by no means agreed
with him in politics, had resigned the Ministry
of the Interior, a place in itself of recent creation
and real unimportance, and was about to confine
himself altogether to the duties of Secretary to
the Commission of Regency, to which he had
been appointed by the will of Ferdinand. If
this new arrangement was the result of a collision
between the influences of Bermudez and the

Count, it may be important, as showing the
superior strength of the former ; but if it be a
mere accommodation of persons to functions
assigned to them, it proves nothing. There is
at present no satisfactory evidence to enable us
to decide one way or the other. The disgrace
of Bermudez is now distinctly denied, and he
is said to possess a hold upon office, derived
from the favour which he finds in the eyes of
the absolutists of the North, which the Queen
herself, tied up as she is by anxiety for her
daughter's acceptance by the despots in question,
does not venture to loosen. The successor of
Count Ofalia in the Ministry is Senor Xavier
de Burgos, a man of considerable Statesman-
like acquirements, and a decided Liberal. His
accession to office has greatly heartened the
liberal party.—Morning Herald.

We have received communications from 1101-

land which enable us to confirm in the most
positive manner, the information which we laid
before the public several days ago, to the effect
that the King of the Netherlands had determined
to humour the strange whim of the Governments
of France and England by applying to the
German Diet for its consent to the alienation of
a part of Luxemburg. This the King of the
Netherlands has determined to do, from his
earnest desire that every impediment to the
renewal of the negotiations for the final settle-
ment of the affairs of the Netherlands should be
removed, although he, of course, cannot but
retain his original impression that the step
required of him by the imperious mediators with
whom it is his misfortune to have to do, is, in
the present stage of the negotiations, both irre-
gular and absurd. The note containing the
request of the King of the Netherlands to the
German Diet, that it will declare its acqui-
escence in the transfer of a portion of territory
over which it possesses certain rights, in order
that his Majesty may be enabled to prosecute
a negotiation in which he is engaged, and which
negotiation may after all end in nothing, is
now ready for transmission to Frankfort. It is,
certainly a state paper which presented many
difficulties, and, if the Foreign Secretary of
the King of the Netherlands should have had
ingenuity enough to prepare it in such terms as
to avoid the appearance and negative the sup-
position of disrespect towards the Diet, he will
have established an unquestionable title to he
considered henceforth as a diplomatist of the
highest order. The King of the Netherlands,
in taking this step to gratify the humour of
certain liberal statesmen, whose single object
appears to be to humble Holland, has exposed
himself to a rebuke from the Diet, to which, if
it should be administered, we own we do not
see how it will be possible for him to make
any reply. The Diet may very properly say,
" It would have been time enough to ask us to
concur in that particular arrangement which we
have a right to oppose after all the other arrange-

ments which you have a right to conclude, as
an independent Prince, without asking the
consent of any other power, are finally settled.
We have never been in the habit of promul-
gating unnecessary and gratuitous declarations
of our will. We are the friends of Hol-

land, and are actuated by the strongest desire
to do whatever may be supposed by her Govern-
ment likely to conduce to her legitimate advan-
tage. But we cannot listen to an application in
the tenor of which we look in vain for the
indications of that mutual respect which ought to
characterise the intercourse of States; nor can
we surrender any portion of our power and our
rights from the vague notion that such surrender
may be convenient or beneficial to Holland in a
certain contingency which, however confidently
it is expected, may never arise." To this rebuke
the King of the Netherlands has exposed him-
self. That he has done so reluctantly and
tardily can excite no surprise. That he should
have been driven to take this step is in the
highest degree dishonourable to the character of
the Statesmen with whom he has had to do, we
will not say for magnanimity, for that is plainly
out of the question, but for ordinary candour,
equity, and moderation. He has, however, taken
the step demanded of him, and has thus afforded
the most unequivocal proof of his determination
that nothing shall be wanting on his part to
bring the difficult negotiation in which he has
so long been engaged to a successful issue.
What will be the reply of the German Diet to
the request of the Grand Duke of Luxemburg,
preferred in the circumstances to which we have
alluded, we do not venture to anticipate. The
circumstances, as we have seen, are such as
would justify not merely refusal but reproof.
And when it is moreover considered that the

Diet cannot but be cognizant of a fact which is

notorious to all the work!, namely, that this
request has been preferred merely to allay the
pettishness or to humour the arrogance of the
British and French Governments—when the

Diet has heard besides, as it must have heard,
that the Foreign Minister of England does not
scruple to go from one coterie of gossiping
dowagers to another, lisping with all the affec-
tation of fashionable nonchalance the mighty
menace that he will make the King of Holland,
as he thinks fit to call him, bend to his high
will, when it knows, as it cannot but know, in
short, that the request does not proceed spon-
taneously, but is literally extorted from the
Prince who offers it—the circumstances, taken
altogether, certainly do not seem to warrant
any very confident expectation that the Diet
will show itself very prompt or eager to re-
turn an answer in the affirmative. It is a

Fact not, we believe, generally known that

some time ago the Minister of the King of the
French at Frankfort attempted to ascertain the
disposition of the Diet with respect to the
transfer of the territory in question, and even

went so far as to endeavour to predispose some
members of that assembly in favour of such a
proceeding. To what extent the representative
of Louis Philip succeeded in these objects,
or either of them, may be conjectured from the
language which the President of the Diet was
understood to have addressed to him on the
occasion of his interference. The President

intimated his opinion that it was a matter of
great uncertainty whether the Diet would con-
sent to the proposed arrangement under any
circumstances, and that certainly the Diet would
never consent to it unless a wish to that effect
were distinctly expressed by the King of the
Netherlands. While we are speaking of the
Netherlands negotiation we may as well say
a word to allay the anxiety expressed last
night by a Ministerial Journal on account
of the protracted stay at Frankfort of
Count Dietrichstein and Baron Arnim, who are
said to have been appointed by the Austrian and
Prussian Governments respectively as their Mi-
nisters at the Court of Brussels. The Globe

thinks we ought to explain this delay. We are
not surprised at the impatience of the organ of
Lord Palmerston for the moment when these or
any other Ministers shall enter upon the mission
it is pleased to assign to them. But we are a
little surprised that a journal which enjoys the
confidence of the Foreign Department of Great
Britain, should affect to be at a loss for an ex-
planation in a case so plain. If the Ministers
whose names are mentioned seem to our eager
contemporary to travel slowly towards their as-
sumed destination, the probability might surely
have occurred to him that they travel at the exact
rate that is most agreeable to the Governments of
which, as he informs us, they are about to become
the Representatives.—Morning Post.