The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-24 00:00:00

RAILWAY RETURNS.

..--
RAILWAY TRAFFIC.—The following are the Total Receipts of Rail•
ways for the past week—that is to say, up to the date to which the
respective returns are made, together with the receipts of the same
week in the previous year

NAME OF RAILWAY. week. , co
. a
ts, :
Week gm
Last a
ending .
Ys'
o 1.
-.
Q 4
----.
. X
Feb. 15 Arbroath and Forfar ............... X
156 130
14 Birmingham and Gloucester.• .• .• •• • • 1,871 1,683
- Brandling Junction .
•• • •• •• •• -
15 Bristol and Gloucester .............. 1,031 -
14 Chester and Birkenhead .••••• . - • • • • 350 322
13 Dublin and Drogheda -
18 Dublin and Kingstown ......
16 Dundee and Arbroath ............... 221 180
and Greenock ck .• • • ..... • • • •
15 Durham and Sunderland . 709 667
. • • •
15 Edinburgh and Glasgow , ... ........ 2,061 1,789
16 Eastern Counties and North Eastern • • 3,280 3,184
671 " 672
15 Grand Junction ..... ... ........ 7,153 6,398
15 Great North of England
1155
GGllasasggooww,
and Ayr ...... 4387 1,180
16 Great Western . ....„. , 13,266 11,300
14 Liverpool and Manchester .........• 4,278 3,711
lb London and Birmingham ........... 14,167 13,3
16 London and Blackwell ...........• • • 787 550
15 London and Brighton.....
18 Loudon and Croydon ...............
86464 6
7 20103•
20 London and Greenwich .............
18 London and South Western ......••• 4,285 4,378
16 Manchester, Bolton, and Bury ...... 812 752
14 Manchester and Birmingham 3,110 2,723
15 Manchester, Leeds, and Hull Assoc- 6,284 5,484
16 Midland Counties 8,835 7,330
15 Newcastle and Darlington ••••• • • • • • 1,019 -
15 Newcastle and Carlisle
... 1,481 1,292
16 Newcastle and North Shields.• ••• • •• 361 go'
14 North Union and Bolton and Preston 1,218 .1,043
3
...
17 Paris, Corbel', and Orleans ••••• • • • • • ...550 3,280
17 Paris and Rouen .•• •• . ....•••• •• 4.459 3,044
15 Preston and Wyre•••••. •••••••• 330 204
15 Sheffield and Manchester...-. •• •• •• 577 479
20 South Eastern ... . .... . 3,121 2,344
598
- Ulster: •••• • • • . - 655
16 Yarmouth and Norwich ........ • ... .170 -
15 York and North Midland ........... 2,214 1,953

Tx.

IRON TRADE.—A further advance of twenty
per ton in the price of iron was declared by most

. .. oy zik.
of the-large houses in the South Staffordshire district on
Thursday last. This rise, notwithstanding the recent and
rapid advances, did not, however, come altogether unex-
pectedly on the trade, as the principal ironmasters have for
some time past declined to execute' orders at the former
prices. No fresh orders to any extent will, we believe, now
be taken, unless at the advanced rates, and even these will
be difficult to eseCute; as we are informed many of the
manufacturers have more'orders on hand than they can slip-
ply for the next tivelde months. Whether the rise will be a
permanent one, we cannot, of course, undertake to say, but
of
manufactured goods, including nails, in which
the trade is regarded as in a most unsettled and feverish
state, from the .uncertainty as to the continuance of the
present prices. As might 'be expected, under these circum-
stances, a corresponding advance has taken place in nearly all
descriptionsa rise of fifteen per cent. has been declared. We are glad to
find, as regards the nailers--a class of persons whose labour
has been greatly depressed—an advance of ten per cent. on
their wages was decided on at a meeting of the masters, held
at Dudley, on Tuesday. Of manufactured
goods for the
foreign market, we may observe that the orders are cOmpara-
tively light, the great demand being for iron rails, chairs, &c.
—Birmingham Journal.
T
HE BRITISH PLATR GLASS COMPANY. —.The
liberal and comprehensive plan of Sir Robert Peel, so far as
the recognition of free-trade principles is concerned, are
already about to be brought into practical operation in this
neighbourhood. Owing, in a great measure, to the restric-
tive and vexatious duties levied on glass, the above company
being found
t loss to the
irmelpinoqssuiisblheedtobcusarryinesosn atbhoeutmtanwouryacearturse alfriot,hiotu
shareholders ; and their extensive works have, up to the
present time, been at a stand-still. Since, however, the an-
nouncement of the Premier's plan of commercial reform, it
has, we understand, been determined to bring the works
once mere into operation ; the effect of which will be to give
employment and bread to hundreds of families in the neigh-
bourhood. Independently of the demand which the home
pink will create in a material which is susceptible-or appli-
ation to almost every conceivable purpose of use or orna-
ment, our manufactures, released from the restrictions which
pressed so heavily upon the trade will be able to enter into
successful competition with our continental neighbours, and
regain those markets abroad from which they were all but
excluded by the policy or imnpolicy sof our rulers.—Birming-
ham Journal. _ _ _

A large body of the clergy of the city of Bristol
and its neighbourhood have sent an address to the Rev. R.
R. Faulkner, expressive of their affectionate sympathy to-
wards him under the late severe contest, and their congratu-
lations on the issue of the trial respecting the removal of the
stone altar and credence table from the Round Church, Cam-
bridge.

West Yorkshire Railway.
Leeds and Bradford Railway..
Richmond (Surrey) Railway.
Leeds, Dewsbury, and hlancheeter Railway.
Leeds and West Riding JUr.etion Railway.
NOTICES GIVEN AT
.i.HE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE,
Cockermouth and 71, orkington Railway—Second Reading,
Tuesday, Feb,
N.ewalP:.ry and Birmingham Railwap—Committee on
Petit', adjourned till Monday, Feb. 24.
London and York Railway—Second Reading, Tuesday,
Feb. 25.

Manchester and Buxton Railway—Committee on Petition,
postponed from Monday, Feb. 24, till Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Scottish Central Railway—Committee on Petition, post-
poned from Thursday, Feb. 27, till Friday, Feb. 28.
Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway—Committee
on Petition, postponed from Monday, Feb. 24, till Tuesday,
Feb. 25.

Cornwall Railway—Committee on Petition, postponed from
Monday, Feb. 24, till Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Chester and Birkenhead Railway—Second Reading, Tues-
day, Feb. 25.
Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton Railway—Committee on
Petition, Tuesday, March 4.
Brighton and Chichester (Portsmouth Extension) Rail-
way—Committee on Petition, Tuesday, March 4.
Lynn and Ely Railway—Committee on Petition, port-
poned from Thursday, Feb. 27, till Friday, Feb. 28.
Belfast and Ballymena Railway—Committee on Petition,
postponed from Thursday, Feb. 27, till Friday, Feb. 28.
York and Scarborough Railway Deviation—Second Read-
ing, Monday, Feb. 24.
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway—Second Reading, Mon-
day, Feb. 24.
Kendal and Windermere Railway—Secondßeading, Mon-
day, Feb. 24.
Hull and Selby (Bridlington Branch) Railway—Second
Reading, Monday, Feb. 24.
Ashton, Stalybridge, and Liverpool Junction (Ardwick
and Guide Bridge Branches) Railway—Second Reading,
Monday, Feb. 24.
Manchester and Leeds Railway (Burnley Branch, Oldham
and Heywood Branches Extension) Railway—Second Read-
ing, Monday, Feb. 24.
Manchester and Leeds Railway—Second Reading, Mom.
day, Feb. 24.
London and Sonth-Western Railway, No. 1 (Metropolitan
Extension)—Second Reading, Monday, Feb. 24.
Manchester and Birmingham (Ashton Branch) Railway—
Second Reading, Monday, Feb. 24.
Trent Valley Railway—Committee on Petition, Monday,
March 3.

West Cornwall Railway—Committee on Petition, Monday,
arch 3.

Oxford and Rugby Railway—Committee on Petition,
ronday, March 3.
South-Easteru Railway—Committee on Petition, Monday,
;arch 3.

COMMITTEES ON PETITIONS FOR PRIVATE BILLS

FOR THE ENSUING WEEK.
MONDAY, FEB. 24.
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway.
Eastern Counties (Ely and Whittlesea Deviation) Railway.
Eastern Counties (Hertford and Biggleswade Extension)
Railway.
Eastern Counties (Cambridge and Huntiggdon) Railway.,
Blackburn, Burnley,'Accrington, and Collie Railway,
Chester and Holyhead'Railway.

TUESDAY, VEB. 25. -
GlasgoW,Raisley, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railway.
Glasgow Junction Railway.
Yorth and North Midland (Goole Branch) Railway.
Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway.
Barnsley Junction Railway.
Leeds and Thirsk Railway.

London, Worcestershire, and South Staffordshire Railway.
Manchester, Bury, and Rossendale (Heywood Branch)
Railway.
Bridgwater Navigation and Railway.
Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway,

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26.
Clydesdale Junction Railway.
Newcastle and Darlington (Brandling Junction) Railway,
York and North Midland (Bridlington Branch) Railway.
Cambridge and Lincoln Railway.
Manchester and Buxton Railway.
Cornwall Railway.

FRIDAY, FEB. 28.
Seuttish Central Railway.
Lynn and Ely Railway.
Belfast and Ballymena Railway. .
Newcastle and Berwick Railway.

MORTALITY in the METROPOLIS.
The following are the results of "A Table of Mortality
in the _ Metropolis, showing the Number of Deaths from
all Causes registered in the Week ending Saturday, the
15th of February, 1845." The Table is issued from the Office
of the- Registrar-General :--
Weekly
• CAUSES OF DEATH. Total. Average of
Five Years
Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious Diseases 178 184
Diseases of variable or uncertain seat • • 120 106
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves, and Senses 175 159
Diseases of the Lungs, and other Organs of
Respiration 368 292
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 44 24
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other

Organs of Digestion -
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c ' 9 6
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c. l5 10
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles l4 6
Diseases of the Skin, &c 3 1
Old Age, or Natural Decay B6 70
By Violence, Privation, or Intemperance
Causes specified 1110 954.
Deaths from all Causes ..... lll2 963.
DEATHS FROM THE rRINCIPAL DISEASES INCLUDED UNDER
THE ABOVE HEADS.
Total. Weekly Average
of Five Years.
Consumption 153 147
Scarlatina 3B 36
• Pneumonia ...........
Dropsy ....• .. .. ........... 38 33
Hooping Cough 29 33
Typhus 25 30
Small Pox
Disease of the Heart
Measles l9 24
Apoplexy
Diseases of the Brain lO 10
Diarrhoea..
..
Sudden Deaths ..... ..... ... 16 15
DISTRICTS.

Deaths Weekly Births
in Average of in
the Week. Five Years. the Week.
West
North 225 176 244
Central
East 219 209 293
South

Total ........ . 1112 963 1256

BATHS AND RECREATION FUND AT BIRMINGHAM.
—We feel pleasure in announcing that the Birmingham
Banking Company have given the liberal donation of 2001.
towards the fund, which now amounts to I,oool.—Ten Towns
Messenger. _ . • _ - -

RACE BETTING.—In the Palace Court, on Friday
morning, an action, Cooke v. Freeman, was brought, to_re-
cover the sum of 25/., being a bet lost on the issue 'of the
race for the Derby. It appeared that the plaintiff is a painter,
and the defendant a butcher in Titchfield-street, and he
betted the field against Running Rein, Orlando, and Ratan,
and in consequence of the dispute as to which was the win-
ning horse, he refused to pay the bet. Counsel for plaintiff
said the difficulty which had arisen was, whether the plaintiff
ought to claim on Running Rein as being the first horse in,
or on Orlando, who, it had been decided, was the winner.
The whole of the facts were stated in the declaration. The
Judge said there was no necessity for them to try that point ;
they had claimed on Orlando; the only point to prove was
the making of the bet. A witness gave evidence of this fact,
and that Running Rein and Orlando were the first two horses
in. The jury found a verdict for the amount claimed.
THE PROPOSED GRANT TO MAYNOOTH COLLEGE.—
On Friday evening a meeting was held at the new Infant
Schpol, Union-street, Borough, for the purpose of opposing
the proposed grant of 28,000/. to Maynooth College. The
school-room in which the meeting was held was densely
crowded, principally by the working classes, who appeared
to take a deep interest in the proceedings. J. P. Plumptre,
M.P., presided, and on the platform were the Rev. W.
Curling, the Rev. 11. Christmas, Joseph Payne, Esq., Deputy
Coroner for London and Southwark, J. Lord, Esl., &c.
The Hon. Chairman, in opening the proceedings, briefly
adverted to his opposition to the previous grant which had
been made to Maynooth College. To every right thinking
Protestant, whether of the Church of England or a Dissenter,
the proposal to augment the grant to 28,0001. would be
heard with regret. The Rev. Henry Christmas, of Vera-
Chapel, Lambeth, in a temperate speech, moved the
first resolution to the effect, " That the proposed grant to
Maynooth was most unjust, tending to diminish thespread of
the Gospel, and the upholding of superstition and bigotry,
by countenancing the teaching of doctrines adverse to the
opinions of Protestant England, and that the present meet-
ing do all in their power to oppose such grant." The Rev.
W. Curling, in a speech of upwards of an hour, denounced
the conduct of Sir R. Peel in proposing such a grant,, an
contended that the intention of Mr. Pitt, when the first grant
was made in 1;95, was merely to endow
forthe
tChoelleegdelicaattlidonnootf
that it should be continued every year,
lour hundred priests in the most pernicious of doctrines. On
the motion of Mr. Lord (barrister), seconded by Mr. Joseph
Payne, a petition was adopted to the House of Commons,
praying the House not to agree to the proposed grant.
Several other gentlemen having addressed the meeting, a
vote of thanks was given to the Chairman, and the assembly
iispersed.

1. Finance, or revenue and expenditure.
2. Occupations of the people, whether in agriculture, ma-
nufactures, or in any other way connected with the produc-
tive operations.
3. Commodities, whether they be of the growth of the soil,
of the productions of mines, of fisheries, and of manufactures,
or as regards the arts of wild and domestic animals, for
their skins, ivory, horns, bones, flesh, oil, tallow, and far,
—and

4. Commerce, or the interchange of raw and manufactured
commodities.

The last three can only be made equitably subservient to
the first, so far as the obligations of the State justifies taxa-
tion ; no one of the three, viz., the occupations of the people,
commodities, and commerce, should be taxed at the expense
of the other.

ESTERCHARGIN OF COMMODITIES.
When the interchange of commodities, either raw or
manufactured, between the inhabitants of a town or district,
is subjected to no other restriction than its just proportion
of the tax purely necessary to maintain its security, and its
municipal order, and to defray the expense of erecting and
supporting indispensable public buildings and institutions,
we find, in that case, practical free trade existing, within
such town or district, based upon a common interest, which
each individual will, from personal interest, struggle to main-
tain in its peaceful course.

A great nation is a great community, and all the nations
of the earth, if the intercourse and trade between them were
as free as between the individuals of a municipality, would
then actually enjoy a peaceful and profitable system of com-
mon intercourse, based upon common interests, which it
would be ruinous to any one of the nations concerned to disturb.
The greater the commercial relations between the nations,
the more disastrous would be the consequences of a war
which would interrupt their reciprocity of interests. In pro-
portion as this commercial and reciprocal interest has been
of long standing, and of great extent, the greater would be
the securities for the maintenance of peace, and the more
disastrous would be the calamity of continuing a war between
two or more countries so circumstanced.
All wars are more or loss detrimental to the production of
wealth, but a suspension of intercourse with a nation in which
England finds but a trifling demand for her manufactures,
would be of minor consequence, provided such war did not
interrupt our intercourse with countries whose trade was of
important value. A suspension of intercourse, for example,
between England and America, could, only with great loss to
both, from the long duration and enormous extent of the
intercourse, be possibly maintained.
The sound principle of unrestricted international trade,
although laid down long since by Adam Smith, in opposition
to the more specious theory of Colbert, has in British legis-
lation only been practically attempted by the Government,
during the first four years of Mr. Pitt's Administration, and
during the time Mr. Huskisson was in power, and, afterwards,
to a limited extent, by Lord Sydenham. The most extensive
and liberal reform in the British Customs duties, since Mr.
Pitt's tariff in 1787, is the iariff of 1842.
In France, neither the Government nor the Legislature
have admitted even the principle of free trade. Hence the
limited commerce of that country with other nations, which,
in regard to imports, is restricted, except by smuggling,
nearly altogether to raw materials of the first necessity to her
manufactures, as cotton, wool, raw silk, dye stuffs, &c. There
was one remarkable, but brief exception to the generally un-
sound commercial legislation of France. That exception con-
sisted of the moderate duties on imports, into France from
England, as embodied in Mr. Pitt's celebrated treaty signed
at Versailles on the 26th of September, 1786.*
A war of material interests, or more properly speaking, of
material injuries—that is, a war of custom-houses or fiscal
:fortsovith their garrisons of revenue officers and servants,
Dias lotig• been declared and carried bg.-between• most Euro-
pean nations. This warfare of interesFs,_or injuries, has not
ceased with the wars of bloodshed, and if we may ever expect
security against a recurrence of the calamities attendant on,
and consequent to, the latterOit will be in destroying the ele-
ments of tin former,—in short, by the extension of free trade
between all nations.

Prohibitions and high duties on imports were, as is well
known, from an early period common to most countries.
England and France, so often and so long at armed warfare,
were, however, the first,. always excepting Spain, who, en
a great scale, held up to Europe the example of a perni-
ciously maintained war of material injuries against the reci-
procal prosperity of both countries. England had her navi-
gation laws, prohibitions, and restrictions on importation,
and bounties, before France had extensively established
those pernicious regulations. In 1664, France, "in order to
engage builders and merchants to construct French vessels,
imposed a duty- of 50 sous (25.) per ton on all foreign ves-
sels." In 1687, the war of material injuries—that directed
against the importation of foreign commodities, including all
manufactures, was, as a principle, fully established by France.
Austria, but not until 100 years afterwards, followed the ex-
ample, and on the same specious grounds—viz., to force the
creation and prosperity of home manufactures by excluding
those of foreign States.
In the history of Europe we cannot discover a sove-
reignty, great or insignificant, that has not maintained its
war of material injuries against its neighbours, during the
usually considered state of peace, as well as when engaged
in armed hostilities.

Germany, in her history, exhibits amply, from is most
early period until within the last few years, the ruinous
modes of levying taxes. There is scarcel' an old castle in
the empire that can be 'viewed, in the choice of its position,
otherwise than as a toll-house, and prison, as well as a place
of defence.

The capital of Bavaria owes the origin of its detestable
situation, and worse climate, to a quarrel between a Duke of
Suabia and a neighbouring Prince-Bishop, respecting the toll
on, and monopoly of, salt claimed by the former. The Duke,
to put an end to the chief business of the Bishop--that of
smuggling salt—built a'strong castle on the banks of the
Isaar. This protection occasioned a town to grow up around
the castle; and the consequence has been, that one of the
most classically built cities of Europe is cursed with a climate
and situation worse than that of St. I'utersburgh.
Afterwards, each petty German sovereign established aline
of customs officers around his frontiers to levy taxes upon
commodities. Intercourse between one State and another
was consequently subjected to great expense and inconveni-
ence, industry was crippled, competition smothered, and the
revenue itself gained but little, owing to the expense and
the corruption of collection.
The war of material injuries between one German State
and another has now, however, nearly ceased. " The great
Germanic Union of Customs," says Dir. Loehr, " which for
ten years appeared impracticable, was at last accomplished
by means of that constant persevering German spirit which
pervades and rules over our country—found as well in her
enlightened Ministers as in the known gratitude of her
faithful people. Thus, within themselves, free-trading in -
terest now unites 28,000,000 from the Baltic Sea to the
Alps." So much for the tariff and regulations of this ex-
traordinary union of material interests which has destroyed
all the barriers to commercial intercourse, from the fron-
tiers of France and Belgium to those of Russia and Austria.
There is no theory probably more flattering to Princes
and statesmen, or to a whole nation, than to institute mea-
sures which hold out independence of all other nations by pro-
ducing and manufacturing at home all that is considered
necessary and luxurious. It was easy to win a Prince and
people to adopithe application if so very plausible a theaoy.
Louis XIV., by revoking the Edict of S'antes, nearly ruined
all leading manufactures in France, and at the same time
furnished England with the most skilful French artisans. To
revive the manufactures destroyed by Louis, M. Colbert, one
of the most honest and patriotic Ministers of whom France
can boast, directed his stedfast attention ; but unfortunately,
for his country, he became dazzled with the fallacious prin-
ciple of forcing home manufactures by premiums, and by im-
posing duties on those of other countries. He encouraged, by
large bounties, manufacturers to settle in France ; he pro-
tected them by the most despotic laws, without ever consi-
dering that he was taxing the many for the benefit of the
few—that he was destroying that competition which creates
cheapness and perfection in manufactures, and that his
bounties and dutiest were taxes on the whole commutnity,
and especially on the agriculturists. To encourage the
French West Indian trade he paid a premium out of the na-
tional treasury of 30 francs per ton upon goods exported,
and 50 per cent. upon every ton imported from these colonies.
He also established large bounties, which were imitated by
England, on the fisheries. His system became exceedingly
popular; its promised grandeur flattered national vanity;
and neither the Prince, nor the people, nor M. Culbert him.
self, understood its fallacy. "I'V'e will hereafter show how
fully it has been persevered in down to this day, notwith-
standing the changes towards liberal principles of commer-
cial legislation which have been boasted of both by the French
and English press.
England had, under William 111., who carried over and
bequeathed to us the funding system, declared the French
trade a nuisance, and laid a discriminating duty of 33f
the
cent. higher duty on French silks and cambrics than
turaw,
duty imposed on those of Holland. This was
pleaded by the French economists as a full justificationlna of tbtj
war of prohibition declared against English fabrics. The
latter, it is true, continued to thrive, and it soon became a
favourite argument, urged until this day, among the conti-
nental advocates of high duties on, or the
,prohibition of
foreign manufactures, that England, m manufactures, cont.
merce, and wealth, owed her prosperity to her legislation
resticting or prohibiting the importation of foreign manu-
factures.
They either did not understand, or would not admit, that
England attained her_ prosperity,notl? y the aid, but in de-
fiance, of her illiberal commercial system ; that England
owed her wealth and power, and even her liberty, to her
geographical position; to her many commanding harbours ,•
to the vast power of production yielded by her mines of coal
and iron interstratifled, and conveniently disposed for cheap
use and transport ; mid to the enterprising and industrious
character of her people. England also escaped, on her own
soil, the perpetual wars which devastated and prevented the
manufacturing industry of the continental States of Europe;
awl. although her taxation and her public debt have been
carried to an incredible height, and her people compelled to
pay far higher for maintaining existence than those of any
other country, yet her earlier invention of more perfect ma-
chinery, especially of the steam-engine and the spinning-
jenny, and other circumstances which existed during war,
enabled her, in defiance of Napoleon's wars and decrees—
in spite of high taxation and dear food, to enrich herself so
far as to bear all her war burdens. Her people were enabled
to do all this, and to pay those high prices for bread and
butchers' meat, which served to yield high rents to the land -
lords of the United Kingdom; not by restrictive legislation, I

but by a profitable carrying trade, and by throwing her
manufactures with great gain into all the markets of the
world while the industry of other countries was paralysed,
by the insecurity occasioned by desolating invasions.
In time of war the harbours of England gave her-military
and commercial fleets an incalculable advantage over those
of continental Europe. Lying west of the continent, the
prevailing winds, which prevented foreign ships from putting
tosea, enabled those of the east coasts of Britain and Ireland
-to leavd their ports ; those of tte west coasts-being at the
same time safe from their position, as well as from the pro-
tection of our ships of war, cruizing in, and off, the entrance
of the English and Irish Channels. Thus, while the nations
of the Continent were disturbed in all their industrious pur-
suits, Great Britain enjoyed, from her geographical situation
and commanding harbours, peace at home, and the oppor-
tunity of supplying the rest of the world with her domestic
fabrics and the produce of her colonies. In defiance of the
Berlin and Milan decrees, our manufactures found their way
into the heart of Germany and Italy ; while, even in France,
we clothed the soldiers of Napoleon ! Thus, although taxed
beyond all possible calculation of endurance, the natural ad-
vantages of England, and the enterprise of her people, enabled
her to withstand, in magnificent splendour, the convulsions
that shook the Continent to its foundation.
Peace fur nearly thirty years has, however,, transfofined
the destructive pursuits of must of the Continental nations,
into occupations of productive industry. The great bulk of
their population have, since the year 1814, been engaged
generally in agriculture and grazing. Those employed in
manufactures have therefore been enabled to maintain life at
a lower cost than in a country circumstanced like England.
The commercial laws of England, France, and, somewhat
later, of Austria, have been the most unsound that the spirit
and principle of restriction could well devise. Those of Ger-
many, formerly liberal, are now highly restrictive. Those of
Spain were tyrannical, and at the same thee unsound and ab-
surd. Those of Portugal inconsistent and capricious. Russia
much later adopted the restrictive system; Sweden and Den-
mark followed the example. The Italian States, with the
exception of Rome and Naples; have generally imposed
moderate duties. Holland has, since the peace of 1814, and
while connected with Belgium, departed from a more free
system than that of any other European country, with the
exception of Turkey, in regard to the import trade. The
present tariff of imports duties in Holland, notwithstanding
the high taxation in other respects of that kingdom, is the
most liberal in all Europe. The United States of America
have lately agreed to a most restrictive tariff, which cannot, if
persevered in, but be ruinous to their fiscal, agricultural, and
commercial interests. The South American States appear to
he governed by the same spirit as that which dictated the
commercial policy of Spain.

o The Revolution annulled, at the same these, this treaty and Its
liberal principles of eommerce and navigation. It is by far the most
remarkable commercial treaty on record. According to its stipula-
tions " the subjects and inhabitants of the respective dominions of
the two Sovereigns shall have liberty freely and securely, without
' license or passport, general or special, by land or by sea, or in any
other way, to enter into the kingdoms, dominions, provinces, coun-
ties, islands, cities, villages, towns walled or unwalled, fortified or
unfortitled, ports or territories whatsoever, situate in Europe, of the
two Sovereigns, and to return from thence, remain there, or puss
through the same, and therein to buy and purchase all things neces-
sary for their subsistence or use, and •they shall mutually be treated
with all kindness and favour. Provided, however, that in all these
matters they conform themselves to the laws and statutes." Tho
same freedom was extended to ships and merchandise. The duties
to be paid on French commodities in England were rated as fol-
lows :—Wines, no higher duties than on those of Portugal. (In Ire-
land uo more than the nominal duties then paid on foreign. wines.)
Vinegar, less than half the previous duty ; olive oil, the lowest duty
paid by the most favoured nation ; brandy, 7s. per gallon. The fol-
lowing duties were to be lev.ed reciprocally in both kingdoms, viz.:—
Hardwares and cutlery of all kinds, and of whatever metals, eabinet
wares, furniture, turnery, &c., not higher than 10 per cent. ad ra/o-
rem ; cotton and woollen manufactures of all kinds (except mixed
with silk) 12 per cent.; gauzes of all sorts, 10 per cent.; linens, same
duties as linens from Holland; saddlery, la per cent ; millinery, 12
per cent. ; plate and glass wares, porcelain and earthenware, 12 per
cent.

f 7d. Colbort, however, did not establish the system of prohibition,
and the duties he imposed on imports never reached the maximum or
10 per cent. ad valorem.

(To be continued.)
___

(From the Times
There are good reasons for believing that the present re-
ductions are only the steps to a more comprehensive plan
now under contemplation. The Premier almost violated his
Parliamentary reserve by an excessive anxiety to guard it,
and told the House he would intimate what tax is to come
next for reduction but for the serious mercantile inconveni-
ences such a knowledge might occasion. A far more impel.-
tent and specific disclosure, however, now lies before us in the
shape of a document originally designed for the peculiar di-
rection of those in the Ministerial confidence, but a por-
tion of which we publish to-day. It is an essay on " Corn-
mercial and Financial Legislation," wisich, though in perfect
keeping with the " financial statement" of Friday, is a very
bold and ample development. With the assurance that
there was the most absolute agreement on those questions
between Sir Robert Peel and the late Vice-President of the
Board of Trade, and without the least hint of any discordant
voice in the Cabinet, we have no alternative but to read in
the document before us the ultimate intentions of the present
Ministry, as far as they have been reduced to tangible form,
and as tar as circumstances seem likely to admit of
their execution. We have only space this day to give
to our readers the two first introductory papers. Their
style is compendious and suggestive, but there can
be no mistake as to their drift. The freest possible
exchange of commodities, and the imposition of taxes
only for revenue, are made the basis of a scheme
which we think it due to the financial acts of the Ministry
to publish even in its present imperfect shape. The
writer, after reviewing the whole existing system, and sug-
gesting what reductions and alterations are possible under
the circumstances of the nation, arrives at a conclusion of
which it will be sufficient to mention only the boldest fea-
tures. He offers us the alternative of dispensing with all the
assessed taxes, the stamps en marine and fire insurances, and
all the excise, excepting the duties on licenses, spirits, and
malt, together with a great reduction in the customs, and
making up the deficiency with a tax of about five per cent.
on all "realised property." Or, Tetaining the assessed taxes,
and making up what, in that case, would be a less deficiency,
with a like property-tax of three per cent. It is superfluous
to observe that there is no real objection to such a scheme,
except what the altered circumstances of the country may
possibly interpose.