The Sun.
London, England, 1810-12-24 00:00:00

OREIGIV 11V I'ELLIti IVCE.

DEc. 14.—The:English declaim
with-iolcUCe against fne system of prohibition
w3dch shufS the Continent against their merchandise;
and particularly- against the order for burning the
, produce of their manutactures ; an order which was
-executed at the same time.at every point.. Any
well informed man in England cannot, however;
consider as:without precedent a measure to whiCh
the.Enalish Legislature has had so trerjhently re-
course ; would t hey t: ea forget that a great ,number
of the statutes of t Enilland•commatid the
burning of goods, the produce of 'foreign industry,
and .above all that oi•France ?
We would seek in vain among other nations a
sys.ein of prohibition, which has placed more
shackle, than that of England upon the introduction
of industry trom the Continent. •
Ail the English writers agree in saying, with
Gee, one of• their authors, that there Hs no Cali-
meree which it is proper to repress with -more -care
than, that'ot France, which produces' all tne'rieces—
sares of life, and wants evenvery few of those which
convenience or luxury demand', with the exception
of some materials for her manufactures, such as drus
for dyeing.
It is io this sentiment thet is owing this system of
prohibition by which the English have nearly ar-
rived at excluding 'from their w ukets oar manufac-
tures; a system which was modified-a 'little by the.
treaty in 17 36, but in consideration of advantages
and concessions out-of all proportion whiCh we ruaL!e
to England.
It would be too 'long to ci'e all the statutes
which, since the 3d year of the reign of E lwardi V.
down to the present time, h:we established violent
measures against 'French products and industry, par-
ticularly with regard to cloths,. wooden. ,caps, lace;
ribbons, fringe. of silk or thread, gold and silver lace,
linen, cambric, &c:

These statutes do not confine thems'hres to intlicr
pecuniary pen Ities, and o.dtring the confiscation
of the metchatidise : they attach the crime of felony -
and -transportation fur sc,ven years against then),
A statute of the tgih of Geo. 11. (chap. 24.) i 4
still more rigorous. It cleclai es felony every act. --of •
prohibited importation; whether open or clandestine;
it obliges a Person, accused of fraud to appear, under
pain of death; at the titne'specifi&d in the proClana-
lion.. We shall' see that it is a ,measure-of rigour for
thichthe.English have f7urnishectexainples in mat-
ters'of-taxatiOn and prohibitions, - • , • • ,
- Since 1463, the system adopted by Great Britain
against the commerce of France has been' followed
by ail the Piarces who -have reigned in England
and pi ogressiv,:ly 'augmented At'ts 61. Partiament
crt-e the ab4olute exclu,lou Trench'. goods, such
as'that 'in •1677; On account of the annual loss
which resulted tbEngland-through her commerce
Vviih Fiaucl.-

, It -England haA• sometimes ' relaxed from *these
prokbitorydispositions, s-e then loaded the French
mann tacttile4, the iniroduCtion of which IA ere law-
ful, with such excessive dories, as.neariy to iinount
to an ab,olute prohibition. - •
According to Stniih, the lowest,duty to:which the
grea,er part of the manufiOures or .produels of
France 'DLitt be valisa.Yat is 751. per cent. whilst
the goods of other rw,jous •:vele subjeded iclighter
duties, which rarely exceeded 52 per cent.
It was-to nourish that epposition to French in-
dus'ry, that in 1749 was established in -London tnr
Ant-iGallican &solety, which proposed to prevent•in.
Engird the sale of French-goods. It was honoura-
ble t() our national cliaratter that it had no imitators
in 'France, -- In truth, the spirit which formed this
inctitui ion in England has not remained withont-al-
terai!on. The Government has hail recount, to
vi,its, and'custom-housetacers throughout
the tutee kingdoms are authorised to enter boosts to
search 16r 'probibit,d .gooifs-, from the top to the
bottom ; they can evensop passengers in,the Streets
and upon the reAs, when they are knoWn as car-
riers of suspeaed goodi.
- What can be add. d to these statutes; to'this ever-
-I:l;sting war of the English customs against •FRinch•
industry ? Nothing, but giving orders to burn such

of our merchandizeas the:), -seize, after having sur-
thou:ited so many obstacles. This measure has been

prescri bt-ct by a great number of rules; among, which

Ave will cite:7—

1.. Tht statute of the 1 5 th. of George 11, ..w hid)
orders the confiscation and burning of bold and silver
wire, gilt :copper-and silver; goldedsilver fringe,
coming from the Continent.
2. The statute of the Zed year of the same reign
(chap. A. tied ,2.) renews the dispositions of.the

fornier statiate, and orders the confiscation and burn-

log of embroidered studs, stufTh wish gold or silver
flowers, or any other manutadture containing gold

tit Over, either in wiTes or in plates, coating from

the Continent.

The statute of the 3d year of George 111. modifies
that of the tgth year of Henry VII. which prohibits
the importation of ribbons, hinges, lace, silk, vel-

vet, and other manufactures fabricated with silk, and

coming trom the Continent, under pain of confiseas-
tion, and a tine equal to the value of the meichan.

dine; and the said articles shall be publicly burnt
and entirely destroyed. ,
That .of the 24th Of the same reign, which orders,
the burning of tobacco, Bcc.
- _How is it possrble after .such examples, drawn
from their ownlegislatiun, that the English should

be surprised to ::te the COniinent" at,,leilgib adopt
thin prohibioory system to which they awe their own

iches, and France employ, to exclude English titer-
Chandize trdm her markets, the means of which
the English have so frequently made 'u'se—the-ab-
solute prohibnion of the produce of their manufac-'
tures, -and the burning of those which bad been
fiaedulently introduced.

Thur-day morning early Vauxhall Gardens were
broken in to by some person or persons at present un-
known, who Intuilatvd the statue of Mit:roN,-which
is east io lead, by taking cif the legs, and one of the
urffis. rri,cy did not completely -effee the whole of
their porvo,.e, having been disturbed by the watdb-
man, but they made off with their booty. ,

1.01,41)0N; Printed.t;y kICH,AIt
at the Suzi-OPF]

LIU/ !A:7T LL/"GENCE,
, • ,

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DES.

SIFTINGS AT ',IS! iitIUIS;ErI"QaE LORI) ELLENBOROUGII