Star.
London, England, 1820-05-29 00:00:00

doe of the taw of, oui c erce.lfgr.aotwnleami::
and exports, may prove iiiidimedship to have Assoin
incorrect 'Conclusions on sonic points, the principlek

for which he contended will not be proved incorrect.
Where we think his Lordship bast correct in his
reasoning is, in relation to consumption and the com•
parative value of oar exports in different-years. Take
the-total of our consumption and his. Lordship will
be found.correct : take theparticolgrs, and he will be
found wrong. In the consumption of necessaries there.
is no diminution—in that of luxuries there is a defal-
cation in the Revenue. Now this is precisely the
order which nature imposes upon mankind: when
the means of purchasing are reduced, the curtailments
begin with the disuse of superfluities ; and woe to
that country where the reduction denies to men, ge-
nerally, the "tee:aerie' s of life ; for, unless the seasons
be the cause, nankind, as communities, will not suffer
themselves to starve. It is contrary to the dictates
of experience to expect that a whole community will
patiently Famish when everywhere the barn yards
are filled with abundance.

One point on which his Lordship dwelt deserves
great and most serious attention—we mean his frank
Avowal that the great obstacle to the recurrence so a
free trade, was the monopoly enjoyed. by the Agri.
cultnrists, and that that monopoly was-injurious to
the trade, industry, and ultimate advancement of
the country, and supported by him, in 1815, merely
with a view to prevent the depreciation of landed
property, and the convulsions to which such a depre-
ciation could net fail to give rise. He recapitulated
his statement in 1815. that if the protection were not
granted then, it ought not to be granted at all, as
the measure was indefensible on any other ground
than that of preventing the revolution in property,
and a delay would produce that convulsion against
which it was to guard.
However people may deceive themselves, or stupidly
imagine that they can deceive others, his Lordship has
truly statectthe only defence that can be offered of the
Corn Law. He frankly avowed, that its object is to
render land, and the produce of land, more valuable
than they -would naturally be. Here we have it ac-
knowledged, that the industry and prosperity of the
community in general are permanently depressed by
the agricultural monopoly.—" We cannot," said his
Lordship, " go to foreign countries with advantage.
They would say, We are poor; admit our corn, and
we will trade with you. Why, if you talk so big on
commercial intercourse—if you value so highly the
doctrines of your great ADAM SMlTlt—admit 441 P
produce freely, and we will admit yours."
It is well that the real merits of this question
should be accurately understood by the country; and
to do Lord LIVERPOOL justice, we think his speech
must have the effect of contributing to dispel any
delusion which may exist on this subject. It is well
that the agriculturist should understand, that the;
only interest which the country has in the continu-
ance of the monopoly is limited to the prevention of,
the convulsion that would be produced by any im-
, mediate change in the value of landed property.
To the dread of this danger, the permanent pro-
sperity of the agriculturists, as well as of the coin-
sunnity in general, is sacrificed; for agriculture can
only prosper with the prosperity of the • country,
which an agricultural monopoly must destroy. Pro-
tecting duties eannot give an ability to purchase,
and where the ability to purchase is diminished,
prices must fall. The monopoly has, according to
Lord LIVERPOOL, secured to the agriculturists an
average of 78s. per quarter for wheat, a sum equal
to the remunerating price for which they contended
in 1815. And yet the Agriculturists are as loud in
their complaints of distress, as any other class in the
community ! if a continuance of distress, occasioned
by a decay of trade and industry, do not affect the
consumption of bread, it can only be because the
Pam' Rates supply the means to purchase it.
But if the monopoly was originally unwise, even
with reference to the Agriculturists themselves, what
are we to think of the claims to additional protection
now so loudly advanced ? Nothing certainly was
ever more ill judged than the advancement of a claim
of this nature at a moment when it is acknowledged
on all hands, that a great part of our distress is occa-1
sioned by the existing monopoly. Upon what grminds
such a claim can be supported, we are altogether at
a loss to understand. It cannot, we think, be de-
fended on the ground of putting more money into
the pockets of the Agriculturists, the only feasible
ground ; for no one but Mr. Waseca HALL would
think it possible to draw more money from a starving
population.
The Paris Papers of Thursday and Friday have
arrived since our last.
The Court of Peers decided, on Wednesday, that
Louvei is the only person whom there is ground for
prosecuting, on account of the assassination of the
Duke de Bram. Of nineteen other individuals who
were represented as implicated in the affair, seven
have been discharged as quite free from suspicion;
six have been also discharged on the ground of in-
sufficiency in the information against them ; and the
remaining six have been referred to the Arromr-
OrMaRAL, to be prosecuted, if he shall see fit, as
certain minor charges, for which there appears to be
some foundation. The trial of Load is to 410111•
mence on Monday, the sth of Jane.
The discussion of the Election Project of Law,
still goes tedioudy on in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Madrid Gazette contains the official letters of