The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-27 00:00:00

Ztt int

LONDON :
TUESDAY,MORNING. DECEMBER 27, 1842.

The Journal des Debats of Thursday last con-
tains an extract from the first lecture of M.
MICHEL CHEVALIER, at the College of France)
some statements in which are worthy of a
moment's attention, as an exemplification of
opinions across the water. He says of credit, for
example, that "its object is to render the pro-
duce of previous labour useful or profitable to
present labour." That is, at best, only one object
of credit. When a man borrows on his bill the
sum of 501., that he may complete a house he
has begun to build, he is enabled by the loan to
command a certain portion of the products of
previous labour, by which he completes the task
he has in hand. But when a man breeds and
rears cattle which he cannot dispose of for three
or four years, and during that time lives on his
own credit, or the credit of others, something
different takes place. He cannot approßiaTeTo
the end of rearing the cattle the produce of pre-
vious labour through the whole three or fbur
years, because the bulk of such produce is an-
nually created and annually consumed. One
harvest is always nearly eaten up by the time the
other is about to be gathered in. We hold M.
MICHEL CHEVALIER'S description, therefore, to
be incomplete, and as the principle on which
credit rests seems to us of importance, we shall
state it for consideration.
We lately adverted to the general fact, or
principle, that all commodities are produced in
unequal times, in order to elucidate the natural
and necessary dependence of the farmer, whose
produce requires a year to complete it. That
principle pervades all society, and is the source
of credit-----those Whose
works are completed in
long' if
periods- ftrrowing from those whose work
is completed iii shortertime.The cattle breeder,
to pursue ourstration, knows that at the end
of three or foitr;',years, when he will be enabled
ta sell his stock; that it will be 'worth az.-onsiderable
in his neighbourhood
know ponied classes
Awn.
know that as well as lie does, and on that know- ,

edge he can at any time borrow, and they will
at any time lend him something like the value
of his stock, to enable him to go on rearing them
year after year. The same principle applies to
a merchant who sends goods abroad, and cannot
look for his returns in less time than a twelvemonth.
He can borrow nearly to the amount of his
goods to enable him to subsist in the meantime
and complete his bargain. It is, we believe, the
case with the greater number of merchants, ma-
nufacturers, and agriculturists, whose produce
or ventures can only be realised in long periods,
to borrow largely on the faith of the commodities
they will hereafter have to sell.
The money borrowed, whether paper or
metal, is immediately disbursed in paying wages,
or in paying for work, or in subsisting the indi-
vidual. He obtains by that means the services
of men whose labour is completed, or whose
produce is brought to market in much shorter
periods than his own. This may, and does go
on, ad iqfinitum, so that there is a perpetual bor-
rowing by' those who have commodities on the
way to the market pf those whose commodities
are already completed. Credit is plainly the
means by which the latter and the former are
made useful to each other; and the end of credit
is to make the products of these different classes
of producers, as M. SAY will tell M. MICHEL
CHEVALIER, the market one for the other. If
there were no credit, no commodities could be
exchanged but those that are produced in equal
times, and there could be little or no trade in

the world. Credit, like every part and portion
of social and combined production, has its root in
a great natural fact; and that fact, in its case,
is that commodities are produced or brought to
market in inequal times. The object, or end,
of credit is to enable all the various productive
classes to assist each other ;-and the monied man
whb gives a hand to each, and whose money
is continually returned to him with interest, as
payment for the valuable purpose it serves, is
the means by which their products are made mu-
tually available.
M. MICHEL CHEVALIER also says that " Eng-
land exists under singular conditions. She is

insulated, in the widest extent of the term. In-
dustry is there carried on differently from what
it is on the Continent. Everywhere else agricul-
ture has the first rank. England gives herself up
in preference to commerce and mannfactures."
The truth, we believe, is, that England has
merely preceded other nations in developing
manufactures and trade, till they have become
preponderant in the empire, for most other coun-
tries have at the same time been acting in the
same manner. There is hardly one of them in
which the products of other arts have not gra-
dually gained on those of agriculture. That is
the necessary consequence of the progress of
mankind ; men were always fed by some means
or other, and it is only in an advanced stage of
civilization that they get well and comfortably
clothed and lodged, and surrounded, in doors
and out of doors, with a great multitude of luxu-
ries and conveniences. That manufactures and
commerce should grow faster than agriculture, is
natural and necessary; but England preceded
other nations in this career. At present, far
from being insulated or exceptional, the fibres of
her trade connect her with all the nations of the
globe; she syMpathises with them all, and they
are all eager and desirous to become as she is—
commercial and manufacturing.
France, unfortunately, has preferred war to the
cultivation of commerce, and she now finds herself
almost cut off from trading with other nations.
No person can more deeply regret this than s
regret it, for the multiplied connections of trade
are the surest guarantees of national peace. The
French were wont to pride themselves on their
ships, colonies, and foreign trade. To the begin-
ning nearly of the eighteenth century, they were
as far advanced, or further, than England.
HUME, and several writers, have noticed how
much they had preceded us, and how many arts
England had borrowed from France. Here is a
passage from BOLINGBROKE'S Letters on the study
of history, to the same effect :

The soil, the climate, the situation of Prance, the
ingenuity, the industry, the vivacity of her inhabitants
are such ; she has so little want of the produce of
other countries, and other countries have so many
real or imaginary wants to be supplied by her, that
when she is not at war with all her neighbours—when
her domestic quiet is preserved, and any tolerable ad-
ministration of Government prevails, she must grow
rich at the expense of those who trade, and even of
those who do not open a trade with her. Her
baubles, her modes, the follies and extravagances of
her luxury, cost England, about the time we are
speaking of (1660), little less than 800,0001. a-year,
and other nations in their proportion.

Till that time and subsequently, England im-
ported largely from France, and imported be-
sides wines, baubles and luxuries. Now mat-
ters are changed; and France, having persevered
in carrying on war against her neighbours, to
the neglect of domestic quiet, she supposes that
she is obliged to bar out English and other pro-
ducts by a tariff, which isolates her—and, by pre-
venting commerce and manufactures from in-

creasing faster than* agriculture, makes her an
exception to the general progress.

IVe have long ago remarked in this Journal
that Puseyism sprung more from political than
moral causes. It has its origin mainly in the
recognised disability of the Church to satisfy the
religious feelings of the people, and render them
contented. with • the State. The early Christian
Church and the' Romish Church had such effects,
and hence the idea that the Church can now
only be made efficient as an ally of the State,
and as the teacher of religion, by becoming
what the early Church, or the Romish Church,
was. Hence, too, we find the Puseyites recom-
mending the abolition of pews, the revival of
imposing ceremonies, and the re-establishment

of numerous festivals and holidays, as they still
prevail in Spain and Italy. Strongly recom-
mending these latter, Lord JOHN MANNERS has
lately published a pamphlet, which does much
more honour to his good intentions than to his
wisdom. Like the Noble Lord, we wish that
our people had more festivals ; we wish to see
them at leisure to. be joyous ; but that the Church
can now be the means of working the desired
reformation is not to be credited. To hope such
great things from her again as she effected in
ages, is like expecting as much from a
man after
he has been tried and found utterly
the early
incapable, as when he first comes before us pro-
mising to achieve wonders.
When the Church deserved the name of the
poor man's Church, she actually stoodzbetween
him and the oppressor. In the early ages of
Christianity, the then enlightened priesthood,
inheriting all the knowledge that was preserved
of Rome, and composed chiefly of Romans, was
the opponent of the barbarians, who overrun the
empire;. and it was by using their religious cha-
racter to protect the people that they gained
their confidence, and wonderfully increased their
own influence and power. England, like the
nations on the Continent, was inhabited by a con-
quered and a conquering race; and here, as there,
the priesthood often stood between the people and
their oppressors. THOMAS A'BECKETT was the
first man of Saxon blood who filled the See of
Canterbury after the Norman conquest, and his
quarrel with the King is briefly depicted by
THIERRY, as a quarrel of the races, in which
the Church appeared as the defender of the
conquered Saxons. Is there any chance of the
Church now assuming that character? Will it
take up the cross to defy the landlords as
BECKETT did to defy the King? Will it lay aside

its worship of wealth to take part with labourers at
six shillings a-week ? Will it protect the bumbled
peasantry against the squires ? At present the
Church in_England has no independent charac-
ter. It is the creature of the law, and the land-
lords make the law. It is the servant of the
State; it looks most obsequiously to the Crown
for the protection of its enormous wealth; it has
no longer any inherent power, and it never can
be, as in the early ages, till it wholly changes
its character, the protector of the people against
the aristocracy and the State. It never .can,
therefore, acquire the confidence of those whom
it seeks to win and reform, and, however closely
the Puseyite propositions may bring the Church
of England to coincide with the Church of
Rome, they will fail in gaining for it that power

over the people which the priesthood possessed
in the early ages. Temporal benefit it can no
longer confer on them; its promises of moral
advantage have now been refuted by the expe-
rience of several ages.
It is of great consequence not to make a mis-
take as to the mode in which improvement can
be effected. All classes are now agreed as to
the necessity of an extensive reformation, either
political, commercial, or moral—they differ only
as to which it shall be. Holidays and leisure,
which all desire, must grow from the circum-
stances of society, and from the general ease.
Days on which all persons should suspend their
labour, however suitable for a pastoral or an
agricultural people, would be wholly out of the
question in a nation intersected by railroads, and
sustained by commerce and manufactures. In our
society there must be plenty ofmeans of leisure, for
great numbers of persons are supported in total
idleness, but unfortunately leisure-like property
is very unequally distributed. Holidays in
England must now be local and partial, and to
keep the great machine of combined production,
by which all can be easily supplied, perpetually
and uniformly in motion, there should be
always some at work, and some enjoying them-
selves. Play days in England must now depend
less on Church festivals than on establishing
relays of labourers. If Lord JOHN MANNERS
were to study the habits of the present genera-
tion more, and the canons less, we think his
good intentions would grow into some theory
more useful than a recommendation to increase
the number of Church festivals.

The Message delivered by the PRESIDENT 0
the United States, at the opening of Congress,
refers to three subjects of considerable im-
portance to this country, as well as to America,
namely, the Boundary Line, the New Tariff,
and the total loss of credit brought upon the
Republic by the bankrupt and " repudiating"
States. On the last subject the PRESIDENT dwells
with great earnestness, and points out the disgrace
which overwhelms the country; but we regret
to find that he seems more distressed at the results
than at the disreputable conduct of American
citizens, who obtained vast sums from Europe
to make internal improvements, and now, like
heartless spendthrifts, turn round upon the un-
fortunate creditors, and tell them to do their
worst. As a proof of the reckless and fraudu-
lent system carried on, he states that in 1831 the
total bank-note circulation was 61,323,898 dollars,
while in 1837 it amounted to 149,185,000 dol-
lars, having increased not less than 88,000,000
dollars (or about 18,000,0001.) in seven years.
Since that period there had been with-
drawn from circulation more paper currency
than was created during the five preced-
ing years, thereby causing a universal
panic, and destroying the fortunes of thousands,
In this state of things, by the decline in
trade, and a consequent diminution of revenue,
the public exchequer could not meet the ex-
penditure, and a State loan was resorted to, but
without effect. The attempt was first made in
America, but not a dollar could be raised. The
contrast drawn between the credit of European
Governments which observe good faith, and that
of a new, wealthy, and powerful republic, which
can pay, but will not, is somewhat instruc-
tive, and we therefore give it in his own words :
—" After a failure to raise a loan in the American
market," he says, " a citizen of high character
and talent was sent to Europe, with no better
success; and thus the mortifying spectacle has
teen presented of the inability of this Govern-
" "

ent to obtain a loan so small as not in the
whole to amount to more than one-fourth of its
ordinary annual income,: at a time when the
Governments of Europe, although involved in
debt, and with their subjects heavily burdened
with taxation, readily obtain loans of any amount
at a greatly reduced rate of interest." " But I
cannot conclude," he continues, " without ad-
ding that, for a Government which has paid
off its debts of two wars with the
largest maritime Power of Europe, and now
owing a debt which is almost next to nothing
when compared with its boundless resources, a
Government the strongest in the world, because
emanating from the popular will, and firmly
rooted in the affections of a great and free people,
and whose fidelity to its engagements has never
questioned,—for such a Government to have ten-
dered to the capitalists of other countries an
opportunity for a small investment of its stock,
and yet to have failed, implies either the most
unfounded distrust in its good faith, or a purpose
to obtain which the course pursued is the most
fatal which could have been adopted." This
is a lamentable condition for a great country
to be placed in, but it is only a natural and a
just retribution for one of the most remarkable
instances of bad faith ever exhibited by a State.
Spain and other bankrupt States, it is true, can-
not pay either principal or interest, but they
have never adopted the " repudiating " system
now prevalent in that land of liberty.
The new tariff, we are glad to find, gives
little satisfaction, and the PRESIDENT, therefbre,
recommends the Congress to take the subject
again into their serious consideration. " Extra-
vagant duties," says be, "defeat their end
and object, not only by exciting in the public
mind a hostility to the manufacturing interests,
but by inducing a system of smuggling on an
extensive scale." It did not
,require six months'
experience to know these facts. In connection
also with this subject, he recommends the intro-
duction of the warehousing system, which has
proved highly beneficial in other countries, in
order to protect the market alike against redun-
dant or deficient supplies of foreign fabrics. His
remarks on this subject, as well as on the danger
of throwing all the import trade into the hands of
a few capitalists, by adhering to the system
of cash payments at the Custom-house, are of
some importance, and we therefore refer them
to the attention of those interested.

The communications respecting the late treaty
with England, and the slave-trade, are generally
satisfactory. A squadron is to be forthwith or-
dered to the African coast, to assist England in
putting down this abominable traffic, for main-
taining which an annual vote of 250,000 dollars
is proposed. A similar arrangement by the
other great Powers, the PRESIDENT justly ob-
serves, could not fail to sweep from the ocean the
slave-trade, with Out the interpolation of any new
principle in the maritime code. The only other
subject of interest relates to the claims of Great
Britain to a portion of the Oregan territory on
the Pacific ocean, and though no dificulty may
arise for some years to involve the peace
of the two countries, he intimates his in-
tention of pressing ft settlement of the ques-
tion at the present auspicious moment, in order
to remove all grounds of future collision. We
trust that our Government will view the subject
in the same light, and that the difficulty of ad-
usting the Eastern Boundary line will be a
warning not to defer the settlement of this for
even twelve months.

As the time appointed for the opening of the
Parliamentary campaign draws on, the general
.
curiosity increases to ascertain the course of
policy that Sir ROBERT PEEL will adopt with
respect to some of those great questions—such
as the Corn-laws, for instance—which are now
engrossing public attent,on. But nothing oozes
out to enable us even to form a guess on the
subject. The Premier, never at any time re-
markable for his communicativeness, is as close
as wax ; and his subalterns also, taking
their cue from him, are all as stubbornly
taciturn as if they had graduated in
the school of HARPOCRATES. Meanwhile, though
we may be in doubt upon other matters, and
utterly in the dark as to whether or not the
Right Hon. Baronet will play fast and loose
with the Corn-law question, on one point, at
least we can be in no possible state of dubiety.
It is as " clear as mud"—to quote one of the
late Lord CASTLEREAGH'S felicitous tropes--
that we have all got to pay an Income-tax,
which is an addition to our stock of Christmas
pleasures, for which we feel we can never be
sufficiently grateful to our respected Premier.
How long we shall be left in the full enjoyment
of this luxury, we cannot of course undertake to
say but we should imagine judging from what