The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-30 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

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mous profit. The illicit trader, who deals with the
contraband importer, replenishes his stock at prices
vastly less than he can procure the article for from
the fair dealer. He can, therefore, undersell his
honest neighbour, who is eventually compelled to
close his shop and retire from the trade. The
revenue, in the mean time, suffers to an enormous
extent—not merely by being defrauded to the amount
by which the duties are evaded, but in the immense
expense at which the coast-guard service, and the
other penny-wise-and-pound-foolish devices for pro-
tecting the revenue against illicit importation, are
maintained. Fill up the useless hole which folly dug
in the high road of commerce, and the corps of watch-
men, with lights and staves to guard against acci-
dents, which is kept up at a great public ex-
pense, might be diminished, if not abolished. The
high duties levied upon the importation of wines
also exemplifies and proves the same financial truth.
The Manchester Guardian of Wednesday refers to,
and gives the result of, an " elaborate table "annexed
to the circular ofan extensive wine house of Manchester.i
This document states the quantities of the different
kinds of wine imported yearly from 1784 to the pre-
sent time; with the various rates of duty payable on
each; the produce of those duties • and the amount of
consumption per head of the population. This state-
ment deserves the attentive consideration both of the
Government and the public. The former it will in-
struct in the suicidal effects of exorbitant duties upon
the revenue; and the latter it will furnish with facts,
on which to base applications to the Government and
the Legislature fur their diminution or removal. From
this table it appears that, notwithstanding the
immense addition to the population during the
last fifty years, the average quantity of
wines consumed in England and Scotland
alone, taking the nine years preceding and
terminating with 1795, was greater than the
quantity consumed in England, Ireland, and Scotland
on the average of the two last years, 1842-3. In the
former period the quantity taken was at the rate of
5,524,890 gallons ; and in the latter period at the rate
of 5,412,104 gallons per annum. The respective rates
of duty during the former period were 4s. 10d. on
French wines and 3s. lid. on the wines of all other
countries ; while the duty at the latter period is ss. 9d.
per imperial gallon of all kinds, except Cape. The
effect of this increased rate of duly on the consump-
tion of the article, and consequently on the revenue
derived from it, is manifest. " It is a singular fact,"
remarks the journal to which we have referred, "that
the duty received in England and Scotland on foreign
wine, in the year 1795, exceeded, by about 20,0001.,
that received in 1842 in the whole of the United King-
dom ! But, probably, the effect of high duties will be
most forcibly exhibited by the average consumptionper
head of the population. In the ten years ending 1794
the (average) consumption was equal to three bottles
and a half per head; whilst in 1842-3, it had sunk
to one bottle and four-ninths, being rather less
than 42 per cent. of the former amount." Were the
wines of foreign growth to be admitted at a moderate
rate of duty—suppose of one shilling per gallon—the
increased consumption would in a few years com-
pensate the temporary loss to the revenue ; while the
comfort, health, and even the morals, of the people
would be improved. The apprehensions which are
sometimes urged, in the absence of sounder argu-
ments, against the admission of foreign corn free of
duty, will be employed against reducing the duty on
wine. It will be said, " If we admit the foreign
article free of, or at a low duty, we shall be placed
at the mercy of foreigners for a supply ; and, in the
event of a war between Great Britain and the wine•
producing countries, the supply would cease." The
objection is more specious than sound. The use
of wine, even were the duty diminished, would, in
such a case, be still principally confined to the classes
who could easily betake themselves to another exhili-
rating beverage, even though the supply of wine were
limited; while those who now regularly drink wine
would still manage to procure their accustomed glass
at a price not greater than is now paid for the article.
The diminution in the consumption of barley which
a considerable increase in the present consumption of
wine would occasion, would be also urged against a con-
siderable reduction in the wine duty. This also, though
a more formidable objection than the former, is scarcely
tenable. The agriculturists—who would employ this
argument against lowering the duty on wine—are
using every exertion to render this country inde-
pendent of foreigners for a supply of corn. By all
the appliances and means which modern discoveries
in science can supply, the land is to be made in-
creasingly productive, to furnish adequate supplies
of food for the constantly increasing population.
But in that very proportion in which the demand for
barley is diminished, bread• corn will be produced ; and
thus the object for which the agriculturists are striving
with so much commendable earnestness will be assisted.
This argument may also be employed with effect
in resisting the attempts which are now being made
by the farmers to obtain the abolition of the malt-tax,
at the cost of retaining the income-tax. A removal
of that impost would increase the consumption of
barley; but then a larger breadth of land sown with
barley would reduce the quantity on which wheat is
grown ; and thus the necessity
for importing wheat
from other countries would be created by the British
agriculturists, who affect so great a horror of our
being dependent on foreigners for a supply.
STAND ARD.—By what is called, in newspaper
phraseology, a curious coincidence, we hare the or-
gans of the two extreme parties in England—" the
old Whig-Radical party " and " the Young England
party," viz., the Morning Chronicle and the Morning
Post, this day attacking the policy of Sir R. Peel's
Government upon the very same ground—the alleged
predominance of the French above the English influ-
ence in Spain, in Egypt, in Turkey, and in Greece.
As it is not pretended that England has sus-
tained, or is likely to sustain, any material loss in
consequence of this alleged inferiority of influence, we
can afford to examine the question calmly and in the
abstract. And thus examining it, we think we shall
find, even supposing the allegation much better founded
than it seems to be, that in the state of affairs de-
scribed, we have no reason to be ashamed or
alarmed for our country, or for blaming our Govern-
ment. England and France are at the head
of the nations of the world. United they can
command—we trust long will command—the peace of
the world; and while this happy state of universal
peace is preserved, they will in a great degree share
the influence which their ascendancy gives them, in
more or less equal proportions. These proportions
will of course be determined according to the univer-
sal and immutable laws by which the con-
duct and the feelings of mankind are re-
gulated, laws which no diplomacy can seriously
affect. Now it may be stated, as a proposition ad-
mitting of no exception, that all nations are naturally
jealous, that they see with pain and apprehension the
rapid advances to a marked ascendency of any one
nation ; and that when competition on their own
part is hopeless, they will (except under the pressure
of danger to themselves) rejoice to assist a rival in
reducing the ascendancy of the object of their
jealousy. Now we say it with regret, though not with
regret that England has advanced, but with regret
that France has not kept pace with her—that England
has advanced more rapidly in prosperity and power
during the last half century than any other nation
—more rapidly than any nation ever before ad-
vanced. Here, then, is an occasion of universal
jealousy ; a motive to every nation on the face of the
earth (other considerations apart) to aid our next
neighbour—our rival, but still, we hope, our
friend, to come up to our level. Prima facie
every nation in Europe would, for the reason stated,
allow a preference to the French before the English
influence, but with respect to the nations bordering
upon France there is a counteracting principle.
France, though perhaps absolutely less powerful, is
relatively to these bordering nations more power-
ful than England—she can injure them much more
easily than England can, as they have felt too re-
cently to forget the lesson. It is only in the coun-
tries protected by distance or by local circum-
stances, from French power, that the common feel-
ing of jealousy has full play. In aid of this common
feeling there are other motives at work in those
countries where the English influence is said to
have declined. In every country where men can
pretend to think, nay, in every council of the
most despotic state, there will be two par-
ties, and these parties will seldom be very
scrupulous as to the means they employ to se-
cure their own preponderance ; but in the pre-
sent condition of Europe the least scrupulous
party, if it desire a change, whether that change
be from despotism to freedom, or from freedom to
despotism, will naturally attach itself to the French
influence. Non-intervention, honestly pursued, has
been for centuries the characteristic of British
policy. We hardly remember an exception, save
under the Whig Governments of 1827 and 1831 ;
and Whig Governments are themselves, happily,
exceptions to our whole system. It would be an in-
sulting irony, to say the same of France. Even since
the Restoration of 1815, France has, on more than
one occasion, shown herself too prompt to violate
the independence of her neighbours, witness the
Duke of Angouleme's expedition to Spain to
establish despotism, Marshal Gerard's invasion
of the Netherlands to support an unprovoked re-
bellion, the occupation of Ancona, and other
similar enterprises. 'We have a full confidence that,

under the wise and just government of the pre-
sent King, no such attempts would now be made ;
but we are speaking of the effect of the- former
French policy upon the minds of others, and the
events to which we have referred are too recent for
the impression produced by them to be yet effaced.
Certain it is that the hopes of Jacobin revolutionists
and of despotic counter-revolutionists everywhere
point to France, without any fault either of the
British or the French Government; and that as
either revolutionist or counter-revolutionist party
predominates, the French influence will he in the
ascendant. This is the penalty we must expect to pay
for our fidelity to the principle of non-intervention
—as we have seen we have to pay another penalty of
the same kind for our prosperity. There is
another consideration connected with our respect
for the independence of all nations, tending in
the same direction, for which we have as little
cause to blush, though unfortunately it does
not reflect much honour upon human nature. Spain
and Greece, two of the States in which our influence
is said to have declined, have both had proof that Eng-
land (it may be for her own sake) will nut allow them
to be finally oppressed by any ally or any enemy;
they deal with us, therefore, upon the ungenerous
principle that hey will snake the most of
the time, while they rely upon our ultimate
protection. These are principles of action,
we repeat it, not to be controlled by any
art of diplomacy, for what have they in common with
diplomacy ? It is not by intriguing with this indi-
vidual, or that party, that the mind of a nation is to
be changed, or the moral sense of a whole people is to
be elevated. Officious meddling would have a di-
rectly opposite effect, while it would infinitely de-
tr.ct from the high character of this great and
universally honoured, though universally envied
country. As to the caprices of the Porte, or of the
Pacha of Egypt, ho can account for the caprices of
tyrants, or who can correct them ? We must always
calculate upon such caprices, and must anticipate that
they will be generally unfavourable in proportion to
our success, for constant success implies superior
wisdom, and superior wisdom is to the ignorant and
ill-disposed always a reason for dislike and fear.
We have thus briefly considered the subject
upon the hypothesis supplied by our Whig-Radical
and Young England Contemporaries, and, as we
think, satisfactorily shown, that unless England de-
scends from her present high station, or abandons the
ingenuous and honourable policy that has raised her to
that position, she must, in a period of peace, expect that
her seeming influence will be less than that of France.
Not that France seeks such preponderance by any
unworthy means. The employment of such means
is, we know, impossible to the present Government
of France ; and the employment of such means,
to a serious extent, by any government of France,
would probably defeat its own object by exciting
jealousy; but it is expecting too much to expect that
France or any other country will reject an ad-
vantage freely offered to her, and offered as it were
in obedience to a law of nature. What we have to do
is to remain indifferent, until some of our material in-
terests are attacked, or, at least, endangered; and if
Lord Palmerston, or some one like him, does not ob-
tain admittance into the Foreign-office, this state of
comfortable indifference will continue long enough.
TIMES.—The result of the preliminaries for the elec-
tion of the President of the United States is no less in-
teresting as an exemplification of the general effects of
elective and republican government, than as an indica-
tion of the particular policy we may expect to trace for
the next four years in the Cabinet of Washington. Is
it, or is it note a probable, if not an inevitable, conse-
quence of universal suffrage, that men will choose a weak
instrument of their own passions, rather than a strong
ruler, gifted with wisdom and energy to meet the exi-
gencies of Government ? Is it not an ancient and in-
contestable truth, that in a pure democracy the highest
excellence is more apt to lead to proscription than to
power ? The choice of the citizens of America, not
only on this, but on some former occasions, is calculated
to shake the confidence of the most ardent partisan of
their institutions; for the position of a President is not
so exalted that his dignity shelters him from the keenest
criticism of public opinion, and throws on others the re-
sponsibility of the Government : he may attain to
elevated and political rank without any real eleva-
tion of character, and he may rise to power without
respect. The principle of monarchy suffers nothing
in a constitutional country from the occasional
presence on the throne of Princes incapable of a full or
proper discharge of the duties of government ; when-•
ever such a misfortune occurs it is justly attributed to
the accident of descent, and the Constitution provides a
remedy. But the Constitution of the United States ac-
knowledges the possibility of no such accident, and pro-
vides no such remedy. There is nothing of theory in
the qualifications and dignity of the Chief Magistrate
of the Union ,• they are whatever the de facto office-
bearer of the State makes them to be ; and instead of
Mr. Polk being raised to the Presidency, the Presidency
is lowered to the standard of Mr. Polk. Nay, more,
whilst the President continues to exercise powers which,
though temporary, do in some respects exceed the
powers of a King of England, his personal importance
may sink very low in comparison with that of members
of his own Cabinet, although he, and not they, is the
practical and responsible head of the Government.
Such was the contrast between Mr. Webster and
Mr. Tyler ; such will probably be the contrast be-
tween Mr. Calhoun and the now President elect.
One of the principal difficulties of the authors of
the American Constitution was to steer a middle
course between the danger of investing the President
with so much power as to endanger the liberties of the
country, and that of leaving him so little that ho would
cease to be the effective head of the State. As long as
the choice of the community fell upon one of the most
able citizens, and the public dignity of the office was
backed and reinforced by the private consideration of
him who tilled it, both these dangers were well avoided.
The period of four years is too short for dangerous am-
bition to work is ; and the power of the President in
the hands of a competent Statesman commands a due
respect. Bat if the case be otherwise, the office gives
little real power to him who is not supported in it, by a
large amount of personal influence and public eoe ;
and if this influence and this esteem be enjoyed by
others, who may be subordinates in authority or oppo-
nents of the whole Government, such a state of things
tends manifestly to bring the institution itself into con-
tempt. We sincerely hope that Mr. Polk, of whom
we know at present too little to have any preposses-
sions against him, except those we derive from the
extravagant language of his supporters, will show
in progress of time that he knows; not only how to
win a victory, but to use it well. He will have the
advantage of coming into office at a time when the pros,
perity of the country is reviving ; and he may be con-
sidered safe from any political tempests of great violence,
unless he has the ill judgment to rouse them in the wilds
of Oregon or on the borders of Texas. In the present
state of the Texan question, when a new President, Mr.
Jones, has just been elected in that commonwealth, who
is said to be firmly attached to the independence of his
country, it is exceedingly to be regretted that Mexico
should entertain the project of re-invading her former
province. Whatever maybe the immediate result of
such an operation, it can scarcely fail to kindle the
utmost excitement in the United States, and in all pro-
bability to extend the war beyond its original limits.
The influence of England, France, and the other Powers
which kayo recognised Texas, has already been exerted
in the shape of the liveliest remonstrances against these
designs of the Mexican Government. The success of a
campaign against Texas would probably be more inju-
rious to Mexico than actual defeat ; for although it is
possible that Santa Anna may penetrate into the
country, he can neither subdue it nor expel the Anglo-
American settlers ; and he must, in reality, pre-
pare for a contest with a far more considerable Power.
It is possible that the intelligence of Mr. Polk's election
may suggest a more guarded course to the Mexican Ge-
neral; but, on the other hand, the vehement threats of an-
nexation with which the democratic party have brought
in their candidate, may induce the Mexicans to strike a
blow, in the next few months, before the new Govern-
ment is installed at Washington. Under these critical
circumstances, it is not unreasonable to contend that the
European Powers which have recognised the indepen-
dence of Texas are bound in good policy as well as in
good faith to demand of Mexico, as well as of every
other Power, that this new state be acknowledged and
unmolested. If we had a sufficient interest in this ques•
tion to recognise Texas at all—if we, in common with
other states of Europe, are prepared to resist the an-
nexation of Texas to the United States as an act of rapine,
calculated to deprive us of a useful ally, to perpetuate
slavery, and to create a rival maritime Power in the
Gulf of Mexico, it would appear to be no more than
just to maintain the independence of Texas
against Mexico itself, and, above all, by a declara-
tion of the principal States of Europe, to terminate
this state of uncertainty and menace. Had Texas
consented to abolish slavery, all her political difficulties
would long since have been terminated ; and, instead of
being an object of mingled contempt and desire to the
population of the United States, she would have placed
er whole social condition on a higher and more secure
basis than theirs, and would be prepared to play a con-
spicuous part in the history of the new world. It is not
easy to steer an even course between the slave policy of
the United States and the free policy of Mexico or of
England. But if there be in Texas men who look
honestly to the future welfare of the country they have
adopted, and who contemplate something more than the
base transfer of their national rights to others, they
deserve to find support in Europe : and there is too
much reason to fear, that unless the intervention of the
European Powers settles this question now, it will at no
distant period embroil the western hemisphere in war.
If, however, the independence of Texas be recognised by
Mexico, under suitable conditions, and with the guaran-
tee of Europe, the national existence of that state is safe
from every thing but the treachery of her own citizens ;
and the growth of her independent interests would soon
place them beyond the reach of temptation.
CHRONICLE.—Frorn all points of the compass, and
by every post, arrive fresh proofs and instances of the
ability with which our foreign diplomacy is conducted.
The Levant mail of the other day brought news of the
dismissal of Rifest Pacha, the Turkish Reis Effendi, the
only member of the Divan at all courteous, conciliatory,
or favourable to England. He was, in fact, the only
member of the Turkish Cabinet who-a 4 it was our interest
to preserve in office. Why was he dismissed ? the
Frankfort Journal, well informed on Turkish affairs,
takes the trouble to inform us :—" Sir Stratford Can-

ning was the innocent cause. The English representa-
tive having had on the 30th of October an audience of
the Sultan, to notify the birth of Prince Alfred, tool;
advantage of the opportunity to kip; to the Sultan that

the march of his general policy might he better. How
ever reserved this accusation against his Ministers was
s: • :en, the young Sultan was moved thereby, and spoke.;
on the subject to Riza Paella, who adroitly, instead 0
contradicting the arguments of Sir Stratford, flung all
the blame upon Rifaat, and, accordingly, the most
moderate and best intentioned of the Ministers was
dismissed." If from Constantinople We turn to Alex-
andria, we see marks of the same ability and success.
The Governor-General of India, in passing through
Egypt, had won upon the Paella, who promised to re- ,
guiate the transit across Egypt both for letters and light
merchandise in a satisfactory manner. Our dear allies,
the French, were of course, bursting with spleen and
envy, lest we should even get our letters through Egypt
with more facility. The Marquis of Lavalette em-
ployed, of course, all his well-known talents to defeat
and undo what Sir Henry Hardinge had done. It was
a mighty matter to Egypt. To encounter the difficulty,
Lord Aberdeen sends out a post-office clerk, from the
usual policy of being humble and matter-of-fact. The
consequence has been, that Mehemet Ali has scarcely
deigned to take notice of him, and that the French
have had influence to cause every obstacle to be thrown
in our way. The post-office clerk has done nothing for
his office ; the Transit Company is to be broken up, and
the superintendence of steamers up the Nile, and the
subsequent passage of the desert limited to Turks, to
the exclusion of Europeans. In Greeee and in Spain
France is as triumphant over us as in Alexandria. In
both plac,•s, that is, in Athens and Madrid, the French
Minister is playing precisely the same game. lie has set
up his crwitures in both places, and the first law of
these creatures is to exile and proscribe every one sus-
pected of being friendly to England. The Esparterists
were not pursued with more rancour in Spain, than the
Mavrocoi dutists in Greece. Mavrocordato has been
elected member for Carysto ; but his old friend Coletti,
under the inspiration of M. Piecatory, will not even
allow Mavrocordato to sit ; and he is proceeding to pack
the little Chamber at Athens, precisely on the same prin-
ciple as the little Spanish Cortes has been packed, vi et
armis. The French Court and Government seem, in-
deed, to have the same rule of conduct in both coun-
tries. They have taken for allies and proteges, both in
Spain and Greece, the military party; these carry every-
thing by intimidation, and, if this fails, by murder.
General Grivas, who so lately completed his political
education on board a French steamer, is the Greek Nur-
vaez ; he is the bully and the blusterer fur frightening
timid deputies into the right way of voting. And
when Grivas shouts his orders in the Greek
Assembly, they have the same effect as tlio-e of
Nareaez at Madrid, where people know that the
hired informer, the dependent court-martial, and the
executioner, wait on the word of the military dictator.
We hear it rumoured, that the French Opposition
is not to be so very violent against us, poor Englishmen.
as it used to be. We shall be very happy to see any
proofs of this ; and shall be eager to do justice to either
journalists or Parliamentary orators who can le! induced
to part with those convenient and accustomed themes of
invention and declamation, which afforded argument,
force, eloquence, and apparent patriotism, at so little
expense of talent, information, sincerity, or truth. But
first let us see some indication of this improved feeling,
and, above all, of its effect upon the conduct of the Go-
vernment. What interests us, however, far more than
the tone, either present or prospective, of the French
Opposition, is the actual policy of the French Cabinet,
which, notwithstanding the visit of Louie Philippe and
M. Guizot to Windsor, displays all the old jealousy of
French tradition. The Cabinet of M. Thiers, even in
its last days, never acted on so decided a principle of
national rivalry at Alexandria, as that with es hich M.
Guizot is new counteracting in that country our cer-
tainly not unfair or insidious efforts for procuring free
transit. Even the mild Journal des Debuts bristles up
at the idea of a railroad between Suez and Cairo, and is
quite as much haunted by the spectre of the perfide
Albion, as its brethren of the Presse or the National.

POST.—When Mr. Gladstone introduced his Bill for
removing all fiscal obstructions to the exportation of
British machinery, the Morning Post stood alone in de- ,
nouncing that measure as destructive of the mauufac-
turing superiority of England. The Bill in question was
supported almost unanimously by the free traders in the
House of Commons ; yet now the free traders who com-
pose the Manchester Chamber of Commerce declare, in
their elaborately prepared memorial, that unless Go-
vernment shall extend relief to them they must be driven
from all the foreign markets which they at present sup;
ply. "Foreign competition," they state, "has already
been increased by the free exportation of British ma-
chinery ; and so formidable are the indications of in-
creased competition with the very same implements that
are used in this country, that if there were no other
reason fur the repeal of the cotton-tax this alone would
be sufficient to render it imperatively requisite." The
Manchester Chamber of Commerce declares that the tax
on raw cotton is equivalent to a tax of ten per cent. in
favour of the American manufacturer. Good ; but in
the possession of better and cheaper machinery, the Eng-
lish manufacturer enjoyed advantages over his foreign
rival, amounting to not less than twenty or thirty per
cent. In his speech in support of the Exportation-of-
Machinery Bill, Mr. Gladstone admitted this fact.
" lie believed," such were the Right Honourable
Gentleman's words, " that since the foundation of
machinery establishments in Belgium for machines, equal
in execution to those of this country, the foreigner did
not pay more than twenty or thirty per cent. more than
the British manufacturer paid." Before the passing of
Mr. Gladstone's Machinery Bill, the foreigner did, how-
ever, pay twenty or thirty per cent. more for his machi-
nery than the British manufacturer was obliged to do.
This mighty advantage our free trade loving manufac-
turers and Mr. Gladstone agreed to throw away ; and
now these modest manufacturers declare that the pos-
session by foreigners of an advantage to the extent of
ten per cent. must utterly destroy our foreign trade !
Not merely did the patriotic Mr. Gladstone counsel the
abandonment by our manufacturers of exclusive advan-
tages ranging in extent from twenty to thirty per cent.,
he declared, emphatically, moreover, that while, on the one
hand, our machine makers might hope, by means of the
action of his Bill, to monopolise " the machine-making
of the world," our manufacturers would, on the other
hand, suffer nothing from the influence of the
measure. To our magnanimous Minister the sacri-
fice about to be made by our manufacturers ap-
peared, indeed, absolutely insignificant "To pre-
vent their foreign rivals"—such were the words of
Mr. Gladstone, " from having so slight an advantage
was most invidious." If it was " invidious " to refuse
to our foreign rivals the " slight advantage" of twenty
or thirty per cent. on the price of machinery, must it
not, according to the logic of our invaluable President
of the Board of Trade, be still more " invidious" to
refuse to our foreign rivals the slighter advantage of ten
per cent. in the price of raw cotton ? The object of Mr.
Gladstone was, as he proclaimed when he introduced
his Machinery Bill, " to secure to England a steady and
valuable trade." An increasing trade in machine making
for foreign countries can, it is obvious, become " steady"
chiefly in reference to its effects in " steadily " diminish-
ing our export trade in all other manufactured commo-
dities. In direct proportion to the increase in the ex-
portation of English machinery, must be the decrease in
the exportation of our cottons,:woollens, and hardware.
In direct proportion, in short, to the extent to which we
may augment the means by which foreigners may manu-
facture for themselves must, of necessity, be the decline
in the foreign demand for English manufactured commo-
dities. Our foreign trade has for a quarter of a century
been all in all in the eyes of all " enlightened commer-
cialists ;" yet these "enlightened commercialists," who
have so long and so unweariedly asserted the paramount
importance of foreign trade, have deliberately sacrificed
that foreign trade, in the acquisition of which England
has endured so many fearful sacrifices. In enabling
foreigners to manufacture for themselves, we have ob-
viously abandoned our cherished scheme of manufactur-
ing for them ; in other words, we have virtually aban-
doned our foreign trade. What, however, let us ask,
may be the value of that trade in machine making which
Mr. Gladstone hoped to gain, when weighed against the
value of the trade which we have consented to throw
away ? Statistics for determing this question have been
supplied by free-traders. Our manufactured annual ex-
ports, foreign and colonial, amount, as Leaguers are
never weary of proclaiming, to fifty millions sterling.
Of these about thirty millions represent the extent of
our foreign trade. The value of English machinery ex-
ported before the passing of Mr. Gladstone's measure,
by means of smuggling, and of the " licensing" system,
was shown by the free-trader, Mr. Brotherton, to
amount to one million and a half annually. The value
of the machinery so exported, when compared with the
value of the goods which that machinery was fitted to
produce, was declared by Mr. Gladstone to be five per
cent. These estimates—estimates supplied by free
traders—prove, that the machinery which, under the
action of the " licensing " system, was exported from
England—machinery of the value of one million and a
half sterling—represented an annual production of goods
abroad to the extent of thirty millions sterling—repre-
sented, therefore, a loss to that extent to English manu-
facturers of cottons, woollens, and hardwares. The
whole of our actual foreign trade scarcely exceeds, as we
have stated, thirty millions sterling. As, therefore, ac-
cording to Mr. Gladstone, the value of machinery em-
ployed in manufactures does not exceed five per cent. on
the value of the commodity produced—and as, according
to Mr. Brotherton, we did, before the passing of Mr.
Gladstone's Bill, send abroad, by direct and indirect
means, machinery to the annual value of a million and a
half—it would seem to follow, that whenever Mr. Glad-
stone's Bill shall double our former exportations of ma-
chinery, our foreign trade must be annihilated. Our
system of foreign trade is, therefore, doomed. We shall,
hereafter, discuss the very curious question—why our
manufacturing agitators in favour of " extended foreign
trade," should have lent themselves to Mr. Gladstone's
scheme for the overthrow of our foreign trade.
HERALD.—The late anniversary dinner, to celebrate
the acquittal of Hardy and Co. in 1'794, has been too
little alluded to. It is a new and a remarkable feature
in our politics, that judges are now expected to sacrifice
their own convictions, and act as the mob wish. This
was avowed on that occasion. The health of Lord
Denman was toasted as an honest judge, because he
voted in a way to meet the approbation of the agitators.
Those who agreed with him were praised as his sup-
porters ; those who differed from him were held up to
the reprobation—" the contempt and scorn"—of the
people ; the mention of them was received with yells and
hisses. Therefore the judges are now expected to give
their decisions, not according to their opinions, their
consciences, and their oaths ; but are expected to give
them en one side. This is quite clear; no judge can
ever be the subject of praise or blame for giving hip
judgment according to his honest opinion he has no
control over hi 4 opinion ;
his reason is convinced by the
argument presented to him ; he aee:des accordingly.
To praise him for this, or to blame him, would be about
as absurd as to praise or blame a man for saying that two
and two make four. But, if a judge is to decide, not as
lie thinks but as the mo wish, then it is quite consistent
for the 1'.013 to thank him. Nov, then. W have, in the
late meeting, a now and striking illustration
of what we have so often maintained—

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namely, that the late judgment of Lord
Denman, Cottnnham, and Campbell, is regarded by their
party as an act conducive to the interests of that party
By the way, what reason could male the Hirdy-mea
omit all mention of Mr. Justice Maule's (pink, and ar-
riment agginst the agitators ? and yet he was one of
Mr. O'Connell's members in the last Parliament, and he
decided against him. The extraordinary, the wholly
nurecedented step since taken by the Lord Chief Jua-
tice, adds force and illustration to the satro position.
%Vixen before did a judge ever appeat to the public
through the press ? When did any of Lor.l I) man's
predecessors ever publish his argument, and add !Age
after page in support of his reasonings which he ha,, not
delivered in his place ? Lord Tenterden was so j' lons
On the subject of judges publishing, that he would nut
even give a new edition of his book on shipping with his
name. We believe Mr. Justice Bayley had the like
scruple as to his book on bills and notes. But what
would either of these judges have said of a Chief Justice
resorting to the press, and giving both a corrected report
of his own speech in pronouncing judgment, and adding
many pages which he never had spoken ? How can
Lord Denman know that his delivering these arguments
might not have convinced the minority of the law Li,rds,
and so made the judgment of reversal unanimous ? But,
suppose there had been an affirmance, be would equally
have kept his reasons from his br,thren, and then how
could he tell, that had he delivered them as he was bound
to do, a reversal might not have been the result ?

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
CITY, THURSDAY EVENING.
TIMES.—The following notice was issued this a; ter-
noon by the Bank of England :
" Bank of England, Nov. 28, 1844,
" The Governor and Company of the Bank of Eng-
land are ready until further notice to rsceive applications
for loans upon the deposit of approved bills of exchange
not having more than six months to run, Exchequer
Bills, and East India Bonds, such loans to be repaid on
or before the lith of January next, s‘ith interest at the
rate of 2. per cent. per annum, aDd to be for sums of not
less than 2,0001. each."

The above does not differ from former notices, except
that the interest is 2i, instead of 3 per cent. ; but it is
tolerably evident that the expectation of such a rodue-
tion has prevailed in the Money-market for several days
past, and that to this is to be ascribed the recent rise and
great firmness of the Consol-market. The Directors in
this case are pursuing that course which they have
already intimated it was their intention to do, of forcing
business On such terms as the state of the Money.
market would permit, considering themselves quite as
much in the character of private as in that of chartered
bankers. It will effectually prevent that rise in the
va:ue of money which before was generally anticipated
as likely to take place.
We have received a letter from a Correspondent con-
taining some queries respecting the Bank returns, and
the p )sition of that Company. The first is—" The
Bank having reduced their Government securitiee to
13,539,775/., as stated in the last return, which is nearly
half a million less than the securities required as the
basis of their issue, how is it that the 14.000,0001. still
appears to their credit in the issue department ?"
In answer to this, it is sufficient to point out that the
14,000,0001. in the issue department is formed of
11,015,0001, original debt due from the Government to
the Bank, and which is so expressed in the return, and,
added to this, 2,984,9001. of securities to make up the
amount of 14,000,0001. This latter small sum pre•bably
consists of Exchequer Bills or funded stock. These
form the basis of the issue of notes according to the last
Act, and they have nothing whatever to do with the
amount of 13,539,7751., which is the amount which the
banking department, and not the issue department, holds
of Government securities, and which varies according to
the amount which the Bank has for investment. Thus,
when the public deposits on the 12th of October N,ere
upwards of 8,000,000/., the Bank had upwards of
16,000,000/. invested in Government securities ; and
now that after the payment of the dividends the public
deposits have been reduced to below 4,000,000/., the Go-
vernment and other securities held by the aink have
been diminished in a corresponding proportion, and this
has taken place, as was recently observed, without mate-
rially altering the amount of notes ia circulation ; the
difference in which at the two periods above alluled to is
below 300,0001.

The fact, therefore, being, as is apparent both from
the wording of the Act and the nature of the returns,
that the 14,000,0004 in the circulation department is
totally distinct and separate from the item hvadetl " Go-
vernment securities," in the banking department, the
next query of our Correspondent, regarding the neces-
sity of altering the amount of the first of these suws in
the return, in proportion as the second varies, does nut
require further answer.
The last of his inquiries, as to " whether the deed
weight annuity is not held by the Bank of Englaral as
security fur a portion of the debt of 11,015,0001. due to
them by the public ?" appears to require no other reply
than a reference to the Act, and the periodical returns.
The 11,015,0001. is put down in the circulation depart-
ment distinctly by itself as the " Government debt ;'C
while in the banking department the Government socu.
rities held by the Bank are explicitly stated to include
the " dead weight" annuity ; and it is well known to all
who are also in the least degree acquainted with the
subject, that the two transactions are perfectly distinct
in their nature, and owed their origin to two dissimilar
transactions at very different periods, the one taking its
rise from money advanced to Government at the estab-
lishment of the B.snk, and becoaing increased by subse-
quent additional loans ; mod th• •• dead weight" annuity
being a sum paid for a limited p ,riod of years to the
Bank in compensation for money advanced to Govern-
ment after the close of the last war.
POST.—The Bank, it will be recollected, have, since
the appearance of their September notice, been ;lying
money on bills at the rate of two-and-a-half
and on
notes at the rate of three per cent. ; so that 'there is in
the present announcement less to remtvele upon than
would at first view be supposed, The exchanges con-
tinue favourable to this country, and, lately, the institu-
tion has been recovering a portion of its treasure. There
was consequently no motive for making money cl,arer
by an advance in the charge for interest. With respect
to an increase in the stock of bullion, however, it may
be observed that no importance is to be attached to the
matter. The accession of 100,0001. more or less was
o;ving, no doubt, to the purchase last week of an ienpur-
tatien of half a million of dollars from Mexico or else-
where, and this shows the uselessness of making compa-
risons of returns issued at intervals of a single week.
The Bank returns require to be looked at quarterly, or
perhaps rather oftener. An examination of the items
upon this system will enable bankers and others to see
what is the governing policy of the Board of Directors,
and what the course of the foreign excharres. On the
whole, the reduction of the Bank rate to-day has been
regarded as a measure by no means unfavourable to
speculative enterprise.

LA W INTELLIGENCE.
PRIVY COUNCIL, Nov. 29.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat to-
day at the Council-office, Whitehall. The Lords present
were—the Master of the Rolls, Lord Campbell, Mr.
Baron Parke, the Judge of the Admiralty Court, the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, Sir IL East, Sir
E. Ryan, and Sir E. Johnson.
.IE:VEER EAFIEE AND OTIIIRS V. YURITZ DAHER AND
OTHERS.
The arguments in this part-heard appeal were resumed
and occupied their Lordships the whole day.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Nov. 29.
(Sittings at Nisi Prius at Westminster before Lord
DEN MAN and a Middlesex Common Jury.)
PITCHER v. KING.
This was an action brought by the plaintiff, an attor-
ney, against the defendant, the Sheriff of Sussex, for
making an improper return to a writ for levying an exe-
cution on the goods of a person named Bean, at Brighton.
The history of this case is a curious one. The plaintiff,
who is an attorney, appeared as such in Court, and was
constantly instructing his counsel, Mr. 'Watson. Two
juniors, Mr. Crompton and Mr. Charncck, were with
Mr. Watson, but neither of them were is Court when the
case was called on, neither did they appear in Court
during its progress.
Mr. WATSON opened the case to the jury, and stated
that the case had previously been before the Court on
demurrer. The pleadings were most voluminous, and
had been drawn with such ingenuity that they had
puzzled all the lawyers in Westminster Hall.
Lord DEN3IAN—I am sure they puzzled all the
Judges.—(A laugh.)
Mr, WATSON had sat up the greater part of last night
and the night before, to study them, and was not sure
that he actually understood them yet. In consequence
of the decision of the Court there had been a new as-
signment, and that, at all events, the plaintiff would be
entitled to their verdict.
Mr. PLATT, who appeared for the defendant, thought
his Learned Friend did not accurately understand the
record.

Mr. WATSON requested the officer of the Court to hand
him the record.
A quantity of parchment, which might have served
as a carpet to the floor of the Court, was hers
handed to Mr. Watson, who exclaimed, on receiving it,
" Why, gentlemen of the jury, here is enough of it to
form a winding-sheet for the whole of you l', The case,
however, broke down at the very commencement. Al;
office copy of the return made by the defendant was put
in, and William Walker was called for the purpose of
proving it, but William Walker did not answer. He
was then called upon his subpoena, and as he did not
appear,
Lord DINMAN directed that the plaintiff must be non-
suited.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Nov. 29.
DELLER V. ADAMS.

This was an action for compensation in damages for
false imprisonment, brought by Anna Deller, a maid
servant, against her former master, Mr. Adams, a
schoolmaster and lecturer on astronomy, residing
at Tottenham, under these circumstances :—On the
morning of the 11th of March last, the pre-
sent plaintiff stated to her master, that, having
had occasion to enter the room in which the plate
was kept, she discovered that it had been removed, and
the basket which had ccntained it was left empty. She
appeared at the time to be very ranch agitated, and
requested Mrs. Adams to send for a policeman. After this
the nursery-maid, who had been sitting at the window at
the time when the robbery was supposed to hare been
committed, said that she saw a •man crossing the lawn
before the house, that he was dressed in a velveteen
coat, and that he resembled a man of the name of Higgie.
That person was apprehended, but was afterwards
liberated on his recognisances. On the examination of
the premises by the police, no trace cf the means by
which the robbery was effected could be found ; but it
was observed, that a door which opene only
lon the inside, was left ajar. The plaintiff said
that she had been cleaning the steps and pas-
' sage, and might have forgotten to shut the door. On