The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-11-15 00:00:00

LIVER THEATRE, CHURCH-STREET.

ii,j,AST NIGHT BUT SIX OF THE
ThltsinvtAT WIZARD OF THE NORIII !
(Friday,) the 15th, Saturday, the 16th,
"kb "nuaY, the 18th, Tuesday, the 19th, Wednesday, the
Thur-
Ab 'da, the 21st, and Friday, the 22d, the GREAT
1) OF THE NORTH will Perform his
'INCREDIBLE WONDERS
Pitth
e'4 OF MIGHTY MAGIC.
't,l- ov. 22, the BENEFIT of the WIZRD, and
toltii.Y he LAST NIGHT of his Performing. in this

LIVERPOOL ANNUAL EXHIBITION.
„,....3S.HIBITION of the LIVERPOOL ACADEMY
AU ORKS of MODERN ARTISTS IS NOW
at the GALLERY Church-street, from Nine
the Morning, till du,sk. Admission, One Shilling.
%It-1261115, One Shilling. Season Tickets, Five Shillings.
441,-1,.80 Open in the Evenings, from Seven o'clock until
kikurilliantly illuminated with Gas. Admission, One
LEL EGLINGTON, Secretary to the Academy.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
batis t
tne, respectfully decline inserting the letter of " A
ker?thin of
?thin St.
.Jude's Church," not because it contains
g onjectionable, or from which we dissent, but be-
ielf2,.e think he has already sufficiently vindicated him..
'Must the attacks of Ridley.
tbr kibtrpoot gstanbarb.

FRIDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 15, 1839.

Nee have received a file of St. Louis and Pittsburgh
6,11 to the 2d of October. The most interesting
lbclea of their contents relates to the cotton crops.
th4"tgorriery Journal gives the following account
Ott crop in Alabama :—" We regret to learn that
s gortri is _
committing vast depredations upon the
tokt,.,; we have heard many say that the depredation
hawitted by the worm and drought would cut the
t short, in many places, at least one third from
week47ght have been considered a fair estimate a few
thh, 'jack. We hear the same complaint from almost
Section of the cotton growing country." Cotton
eliezeci very freely at St. Louis. Accounts from Nat-
yekltate that the crop would be less than that of last
ktkie S°llae particular plantations, owing to local
tity:' Would make a good yield, but the great majo-
°lQ wake a very short crop.

tailed Packet-ship United States, Captain Fisher, which
aokik from New York on the 13th ultimo, and the
20111 drnerica, Captain Bailey, which sailed on the
likuollibtinlo, arrived here on Wednesday. The news
heoti7t by the latter is only one day later than that
eut by the Liverpool. The Garrick, the packet of
th2:t_h may be hourly expected. Should she arrive
the course of the day we shall give the news which
ay bring in a second edition.
%Ike New York Courier and Enquirer (extra) gives
tt ket)unt of another incendiary fire, which took place
4iiiid.°bile,: on the 9th of October. Several ranges of
Illga were destroyed, but the amount of the
rriaige i 3 not stated.
of b Sunday Morning News states that the progress
kve allk- suspensions at the south and west was rapid.
the ?mail brought in fresh news of the imitation of
Philadelphia example. Washington, Alexandria,
Itaheill°4d, and Charleston were amongst the latest in-
tihuiLk The east, with the exception of Providence,
d the endeavour of New York to sustain the
tour and standing of the banks. There was no
tkitt" from the spirit manifested, that the Philadelphia
lie,B would do a in their power to force those cf
York to suspellnd.

lArt
,keeki44Z.e received a copy of the St. John's (N. 8.)
Lot Y Chronicle of the 27th of September. It does
the econtain any news of importance. The accounts of
latter°ps in Canada are very favourable. A much
Year,cluantity of wheat has been gathered in this
Nitirlari there ever has in any previous year. Its
DtoviY is also excellent. The special session of the
4:clal Legislature had closed, The business tran-
-m Possecses no general interest.
Act

_ -
Nte-Mces from the Mauritius to the 11th of July
tiltit,e,°l)fidently that the approaching crop would be
:IY secured within the usual period. The labour-
PpeZ, llhid to be perfectly tranquil, although idleness
4pe 171 very generally amongst them. The Indians
hhitighlY praised for their exemplary industry. The
mg °1 this important class of labourers was becom-
41.Irteati °re and more appreciated. Their cheerful de-
the 4°14 showed that they were perfectly satisfied with
eatrnent pursued towards them.

the have received files of the Guiana Chronicle to
oohth of September, inclusive.. The news from
of
is of a very gloomy and unpropitious ci
ttor,e- The prospects of the planters are becoming
41111 worse every day, and the general
trade is
thk i declining. So convinced was the Governor
devitle colony would be ruined, unless Government
and countenanced some scheme for furnishing
;erii, that he sent home by the packet his secre
lithi4reMonstrate with the Home Government on the
Aaardi_
et of the disallowance of the Immigration o
f
n ailing off in the exports from Demerara, as
ekcit,:4 from the West India Islands, is calculated to
fork- feelings of deep alarm. Some idea maybe
the deficiency in the amount of British
Produce, when we state that the imports to this
the e °ltt to the 31st of October, as compared with
off of°rresPonding period of last year, show a fallingf
'143000 hogsheads of sugar, and 36,000 casks of
a411(1 Molasses. This deficiency involves a loss o
1)° e -,123300,000—a loss whose influence cannot but
or .1414,1-., seriously- and calamitously felt, either directly
ttrest4mirectiY, by the mercantile and manufacturing in-
(3f this country.
Guiana Chronicle complains bitterly and with
ItteAteihof the apathy manifested by the Home Governl;
4404 -1- reference to the interests of the colony.
tg`r maintains that there is an influence at work ,
4414 gland, for the ruin of the province—that the Ca-
thetr 'ot ,Queen Victoria has betrayed the planters to
ae 1.:1/31:4acable and unprincipled enemies—and that
ttlt of this culpable and treacherous negligence
Irievele,j "less averted in time, the ultimate and ir
m~igruin of the colony. The disallowance of the
Illeatitati°n Act debars the planters from the only
til4,l3Ace
,h3,which they can resort to save themselves from
ek
to ensure the future prosperity of the pro-tkee trllder existing circumstances, proprietors
of
tch *l4e rapidly sinking under the weary conflict
'every
(itiey are compelled to maintain, and property of
dike i deg
tare
is daily falling in value. The imme-
kaielltr°l:lllction of additional labourers, and that on
t
bikertaZiPliensurate with the acknowledged wants and
e capabilities of the colony, can alone avert
jurrestrLeTling ruin. On this subject an intelligent
itt4ble. -tluet of the Guiana Chronicle offers some va.-
41°re liggesti°llB, the substance of which we shall lay
4hitl)a °l'thr readers. He says that there were but few
thi conirge river, and of those few a very small num-
set:— PrOcure produce of any kind. The cause of
ti i'llirttz.--re,iY of produce is easily ascertained. In any
el 4 the world where a man, by working half his
Ofaiti. Procure the comforts and many of the luxu-
kk ife, which is the case in British Guiana, it is
btu t
'4llPPose that the masses would have an aver-

sion for steady and continuous labour, especially after
those masses had been suddenly released from a state
in which their labour was coerced. To remedy the
deficiency of labour arising from this cause, the writer
to whom we have alluded suggests the propriety of im-
mediately holding a public meeting at George Town, in
order to take the subject into consideration. lie pro-
ceeds to say that " it would be highly desirable for such
meeting to point out by resolutions that British Guiana
was among the first of the West India colonies to ac-
cede to the wishes of the mother country on the subject
of the abolition of slavery—to point out the happy con-
dition of the labourers in that colony, which will hear
a comparison with any in the known world—to indi-
cate the large amount of British manufactured goods
imported into the colony, in which Great Britain en-
joys an exclusive monopoly—to point out the millions
of British capital invested in the colony, and the de-
plorable falling off in the staple productions of the
country, a falling off entirely attributable to the want
of labour—to show the large amount of British ton-
nage, and the great number of seamen hitherto em-
ployed in this department of our colonial trade—and-,
above all, to demonstrate that the mighty cause of uni-
versal emancipation is materially dependent on the suc-
cessful issue of the experiment made in the British co-
lonies." We rejoice to find that this subject is exci-
ting a strong degree of interest in the colony of British
Guiana. We have no doubt that the British public
will cordially respond to the appeals of the planters.
While British Guiana is rapidly declining for want
of free labourers, the number of slaves in the Brazils,
Cuba, &c., is increased by captured Africans sent
thither, and apprenticed for a term of years—the eva-
sion of such apprenticeship, by making the helpless
creatures slaves, being notoriously of easy accomplish-
ment. The planters of British Guiana are perfectly
willing and ready that the immigrants whom they wish
to engage should be placed under such rules, regula-
tions, and controul as the British Parliament may di-
rect. -What more could the most mawkish of our
pseudo-philanthropists desire ? What can be more
unobjectionable than the proposition to leave the Bri-

.•
tish Government to make arrangements for the well-
being and protection of these labourers ? The most
extravagant enthusiast could not possibly wish for a
fairer or a more reasonable offer.

It is very properly insisted that " a little immigration
would do no good," in order to be efficient. It must
be conducted on an extensive scale; and after all the
success that the most cordial co-operation on the part
of the British Government could ensure to the colo-
nists, there would still remain millions of acres of the
richest soil in the world uncultivated for want of la-
bourers.

It is incidentally mentioned in the correspondence
before us, and of which we are now furnishing an im-
perfect analysis, that though Europeans are unfit for
field labour in the climate of Demerara, many thousands
of both sexes would find ready and profitable employ-
ment in the colony as domestic servants, artizans, boat-
men, &c. Their introduction would also prove a bless-
ing to the community, not only in a moral point of
view, but by forcing from the towns those who are fit
for field labour.

An absurd cry has been lately raised about the un-

healthiness of the climate of _British Guiana. On this
subject we shall hereafter enter into statistical details
which will irrefragably prove this outcry to be a com-
plete delusion.

The correspondent of the Chronicle thus concludes
his eloquent appeal on bihalf of the colony—" Renew,
I say renew with increased vigour the cry of 'No
Slavery !' let it ring through every town and hamlet in
the British Isles : invite`the neighbouring colonies to
join in the good work. The East India interest, in
reference to slave sugars, will now be with us ; and if
the work is judiciously conducted and persevered in, it
will not only obtain for British freemen and British
trade, that protection to which they are entitled, but in
time realise the wishes of the philanthropist, by hasten-

ing the period when the shackles of slavery shall dis-
appear before the genius of universal emancipation."

We have received our files of the Jamaica Royal Ga-
zette, Dispatch, Gazette, and Standard, to the 3d of
October inclusive. The news contained in these papers
is of a very unfavourable character. The new Governor,
Sir Charles Metcalfe, had arrived. He was sworn in
on the 26th of September, and he subsequently issued
his proclamation calling the House of Assembly to
meet for the diepatch of bueineeo on the 22d of October.
From the Weekly Gazette of September 21 we find
that the subject of immigration is beginning to attract
increased attention in Jamaica. One correspondent of
that paper, a planter of considerable experience in St.
Elizabeth's, says—" Write, write, as Jamaica papers
are now read in England : make the people acquainted
with the negro character. This is of paramount im-
portance. I think you should bring the subject of im-
migration (Europeans for the mountains) often before
the public. Without this, or Hill Coolies, or Africans,
Jamaica is lost. 'Without immigration and strict laws,
we are done for, as far as cultivation goes." This con-
viction is spreading throughout the whole of our Colo-
nies in the Wrest, and we have no doubt that it will
speedily be participated in by the British public.
The Royal Gazette of September 26 states that the
increase of Myalism in the island was fraught with the
most alarming consequences. Under the influence of
this debasing superstition numbers had already been
seen rasing a small meeting-house to the ground, and
digging around it for the evil spirit. This darkness is
truly lamentable.

The same journal, in commenting upon the state of
the island, states that the advent of the new Governor
was hailed with general satisfaction. The government
of Sir Lionel Smith bad so unhinged society, and pro-
duced such a degree of apathy and depression, that any
change would readily be hailed as desirable. All the
respectable inhabitants of Jamaica are anxiously dis-
posed to augur favourably of Sir Charles Metcalfe's
administration. He has, however, a task of no ordinary
difficulty to perform—a task which requires great judg-
ment and prudence to accomplish successfully. If he
succeeds in obtaining the continued confidence of all
parties, his path will be smooth and easy. But this
will prove a matter of no easy attainment. The peo-
ple of Jamaica, owing to the infatuated policy acted
upon by Sir Lionel Smith, have beCome exceedingly
captious. They watch every movement of the Exe-
cutive with a peculiar jealousy ; and no sentiment will
escape Sir Charles' lips which will not be narrowly
weighed and scrutinised. This is an exceedingly pain-
ful position ; but it is one in which he is placed in con-
sequence of the insane instructions sent out to Sir
Lionel Smith.

It appears that the Negroes are still allowed to pur-
chase fire arms and ammunition with impunity. Gangs
of 50 or 100 might be frequently seen, in various parts
of the isihnd, practising their skill in firing at targets,
&c. Surely the Executive ought to interfere to put a
stop to this traffic in arms.
We are glad to find that the attention of the people
of Jamaica has been, of late, directed to thia culture of
various productions for which there is a great demand
in this country, but which do not at present constitute
articles of commerce in the markets of the island.
Among these we may enumerate the dividivi, a plant
which, from the ease with which it may be cultivated,
and the large returns which it produces, could not fail
to reimburse most handsomely those who would pay
the least attention to it. The dividivi has now become
an article of great demand in the British market ; and
we may remark that it has very frequently been im-
ported from the Spanish Main to Jamaica, and after-
wards reshipped to England. This plant grows so
freely as to become a weed in a very short period. It
may be cultivated with great advantage in the exten-
sive Savannahs, which at present produce little else
than firewood. The pods of this plant contain tannin
and gallic acid in a proportion greater than exists in
any other vegetable production. Hence it might be
used as a substitute for oak bark in the process of tan-
ning. It may also be used instead of Aleppo galls in
ink-making and dying. The advantages likely to accrue
from the cultivation of the dividivi may be inferred
from the fact that its pods may be sold in the English
markets, after allowing a profit to the merchants, at lit-
tle more than half the price of Aleppo galls. We shall
hereafter enter more at length into the subject of intro-
ducing among the staple articles of culture in the West
Indies a great variety of productions for the growth of
which the climate is admirably adapted. Among these
we also find the poppy alluded to in the Royal Gazette
We offer no opinion at present on the propriety, morally

speaking, of cultivating opium in our West India colo-
nies. It is an article which might be grown and manu-
factured in Jamaica to a very great extent.
_ _

It appears that a prospectus has been issued in Ja-
maica for the formation of an Agricultural Association,
having for its object not only the advantage of the Ja-
maica planters generally, but the immediate benefit of
the town of Montego Bay, and the protection of the
neighbouring properties from the repeated depredations
committed upon them.
In answer to the gross misstatements of Mr. Scoble
and his friends, the Royal Gazette furnishes us with a
few details illustrating the rapid declension in the pro-
duce of the island. Such is the ruin, that on one coffee
property alone no less than 75,000 lbs. of coffee were
lost last year, owing to the obstinacy of the people in
refusing to pick, although the most extravagant wages
were offered. This year there is an excellent show of
coffee ; but of what avail to the proprietor is the most
luxuriant crop, if he cannot obtain hands to render it
available for the market ?

Were we to attempt to record all the accumulating
proofs of the unpopularity of her Majesty's Ministers,
we should have no room in our columns for the pur-
pose,—so many and various are they from every quar-
ter, and every class of their indignant fellow-country-
men. But it is worth noticing and remembering, that
on the 9th day of November, in the year of grace 1839,
in the city of London, at a public entertainment given
by the Chief Magistrate, on the occasion of his being
inaugurated in his civic office, Lord Melbourne and
his colleagues were openly hissed and hooted to their
faces, when the health of her Majesty's Ministers was
proposed to the company as a toast.

It was a fair trial of the estimation in which this
Bedchamber Cabinet is held by the country. It was
an ordeal through which it was by no means necessary
that the Whig-Radical Government should pass, unless
they wished to ascertain the state of the pulse of pub-
lic feeling by ocular experiment. There was dinner
as usual in Windsor Castle, and the doors of the
Royal drawing-room stood open to shelter them from
the contemptuous hatred of the people. But they
screwed their courage to the sticking-place, and de-
termined to try the desperate chance of a public a
pearance, in order that the question of their popularity
might be set definitively at rest. Well, what was the
result ? The magnificent hall was crowded with guests,
assembled from all parts to do honour to the Lord
Mayor of the metropolis, and all for some time was
gaiety, politeness, and good humour. But suddenly a
change came o'er the spirit of that dream. The first
mutterings of the storm were heard when the health
of the Lord Chancellor was proposed, and that portly
personage arose to make an unmeaning speech about
the proof of London's greatness being found in the
number of tureens of turtle, and multitude of turkies,
which loaded the table of the Mansion-house. In the
meantime, Lord Melbourne lay perdu, quaking for his
turn, which he knew must come next ; and when Sir
Chapman Marshall, in the discharge of his duty as
host, who could know nothing of the politics of his
guests, announced as the next toast " The health of
her Majesty's Ministers," what words shall describe
the scene which followed ? The bounds of dinner-
table courtesy were in an instant overleaped, and the
deeply-felt disgust entertained by the company for the
worthless Cabinet, incapable of being any longer sti-
fled or repressed, burst forth into an overt act of most
unequivocal condemnation.
Lord Melbourne and his colleagues rose amidst the
hooting of the assemblage to return thanks for the
honour done to them in drinking their health. What
a moment for the pencil of H. B. ! Would that we
could hear that

Lord Melbourne rose with terror fraught,
His likeness then a limner caught,
Which makes him look so sad, they say,
In all the shops at the present day.
But we are told that, while the elongated visages of
Lords Normanby and Palmerston—Mantalini and
Cupid—looked pale and comfortless, the Premier
smiled ! It must have been a curious sight to see the
grey-headed Lothario of the Palace " grin horribly that
ghastly smile," as he looked round and read in every
face distrust, alienation, and contempt. There were
the wealthy merchants, who remembered with scorn
the conceited ignorance of that peddling financier,
Spring Rice ; the respectable shopkeepers, who love
the Church of their forefathers, and value, as the first
of blessings, social order and the preservation of tran-
quillity; the citizens of London, who recollected the
attacks so lately made by a Liberal Ministry upon their
old Saxon privileges—the right of governing them-
selves, and protecting their persons and property by
their own officers, without the interference of a con-
stabulary force, the paid agents of Government, and
acting entirely under the orders of the Home-office ;
and all these united heart and soul in greeting the
Prime Minister with " one dismal hiss of universal
scorn," when he got upon his legs to acknowledge his
gratitude at the flattering reception he had met with.
But perhaps, after all, we are misinterpreting the
smile. It was perhaps no contortion of the features—
no forced dimpling of the cheek, to conceal the morti-
fication that agonised the heart. Perhaps the feelings
of Lord Melbourne were those of the ancient worthy
mentioned by Horace :

" populus me sibilat ; at mihi plaudo
Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arca ;"
which may be rendered freely into English thus :

The people may hoot and reject me,
But I don't care a fig for their hisses,
So long as the Ladies protect me,
And I dine at the table of Missis.
This, we confess, is more agreeable to our idea of the
character of the man, than anything like the feelings
which would affect an ordinary Minister at such an
exhibition of popular dislike. But whether it were
the smile of bitterness or indifference—of vainly-con-
cealed fear or self-satisfied security, we grudge it him
not. Let him make the most of the few brief weeks
he still has to misgovern the country, before he is
excluded from the councils of his Royal Mistress for
ever.

We have before adverted in this Journal, since the
recent outbreak of Chartism, to the speech of my Lord
John Russell at Stroud : that incendiary speech, in
which he dared to throw upon his political opponents
the odium of Swing and the Kentish Fires in 1830.
Imagine the puny orator with such subjects for an
oration as we will here supply him with,-wiz., out-
rages committed, not under shelter and in concealment,
by scattered skulking vagabonds, but in open day, in
public triumph, by Justices of the Peace ; not in one
or two southern counties, but in the widest and most
populous districts of the empire; not a rebellion of the
belly, but war directly levied against the law; the
objects of attack not a haystack or a barn, but the
magazines of Bristol, Birmingham, and Nottingham,
—the streets of Newport and Newcastle I
The Whig Opposition then, on the strength of the
French Revolution, got up a lying rumour of rebellion
against the Duke's Government :- the Ministry since
that time and now, with a Conservative and supine
Opposition, have lived amidst the flames of a real re-
bellion, which their own incendiary breath has kindled.
If the people of England want to know what ought
to be done with a Government under whom the fires
of insurrectionary outrage, and the murderous deeds
of treason, do prevail, let them learn of Lord John
Russell : for this was the staple of the speech at
Stroud. If they wish to know the merits of a Minis-
try who dared not permit their Sovereign to dine with
the Lord Mayor of London on the 9th of November,
they may learn from the Stroud speech the opinion of
my Lord J. Russell;—but if they want to know who
it was that were going to have cut the gas-pipes, they
will find that further this deponent tayeth not. If

they want to know what should be done with a Minis-
try who do indeed dine with the Lord Mayor, but
cannot obtain any more hearing from the Lord Mayor's
guests than they could at the Dover Banquet, we do
not apprehend that they will find in my Lord John
Russell a particularly candid and willing witness.
Perhaps the subtle Whig will try his hand at drawing
a distinction, and reply, " Oh ! but you dared not go
at all : we go, and get nothing worse than a hooting
for our pains." Yes, my Lord, we will make you a
present of your argument : Conservatives testify their
feelings, but personal violence (especially towards their
Sovereign) is no portion of their tactics. A Whig
Ministry, even the weakest and wickedest, may take
their Sovereign to the City without fear.
Our readers will do us the justice to remember, that

we argued as strongly as we could for the extension
of Royal mercy to the rioters of Birmingham, and
gave the Ministers full credit for it when it was ex-
tended. They were not taken with fire-arms in their
hands : they were not the real incendiaries. We can-
not agree with Lord Normanby in that regret which
he expresses with such unbecoming ostentation over
the Newport rioters : for them we have no sickly, sen-
timental tears,—

" neque enim lex tequior ulla est
Qum necis artifices arte perire sua."
The death or the crime of any fellow-creature is always
a subject for regret; but there are far higher and more
national considerations, which would have better be-
come the Manifesto of the Home Secretary in these
tragical circumstances. They would not have served
so well for certain purposes, and they would not have
been so suitable to the man who " opened the gaols,
and let loose the prisoners."

The case of Stockdale v. Hansard, to which we have
formerly called the attention of our readers, is again
bringing itself before the notice of the public, The
Bookseller has brought another action against the
Messrs. Hansard, to which (relying on the protection
of the House of Commons) they do not appear. A
Jury assess the damages at £6OO.
_ _

Now mark the result. Ist. The Under-Sheriff is in
the position in which the foul witch Sycorax left her
victims—" hitched in a cloven pine." If he does not
levy the damages, the Queen's Bench will send him to
the Marshalsea : if he does, the House of Commons
will send him to the Tower.

2d. The House of Commons (i.e., the public purse)
pays the damages simply upon a point of pique, for
they have themselves reported that the Book is what
Messrs. Hansard- say,—in other words, that Messrs.
Hansard have a good defence upon the merits.
Thus the House of Commons, by an illegal and
unjust pretension, are diverting the public money into
Mr. Stockdale's pocket (for it win be levied on Han-
sards, and they are indemnified by the House), punish-
ing an innocent officer, and covering themselves with
odium and ridicule. Save us from the tyranny of a
dominant House of Commons !

" Ships, Colonies, and Commerce" has always been
a popular motto in Liverpool. The mutual dependence
of our shipping, colonial, commercial, and, we may
with great propriety add, our manufacturing interests,
is too self-evident, and too generally acknowledged, to
need any demonstrative evidence or argument in its
support. If we were called upon to give our opinion
as to which of these great interests was the most im-
portant, we should unhesitatingly say that the colonial
was of incalculable and paramount consequence. As
long as our colonies are numerous and, above all,
prosperous—as long as their resources are rendered
available to the greatest practicable extent—as long as
they are kept free from internal commotion, or any of
those troubles which disturb the equilibrium of trade—
so long will our superabundant capital find a profitable
investment—our shipping and seamen find constant
employment—our merchants find a mart for their ship-
ments—and our manufacturers and operatives a de-
mand for their fabrics.

There is too much reason to believe that the people
of this country are not sufficiently aware of the real
value and importance of our colonial possessions. Ow-
ing to this spirit of apathy and indifference, the resources
of our numerous colonies have not been either fully
ascertained, or rendered as available as they ought to
have been. It has been remarked with truth, that "we
have neglected or overlooked the great elements of
strength lying in our own bosom, in the growth of our
colonial empire," while our policy has been too much
directed to fruitless or unattainable objects. This was
very triumphantly proved by Sheriff Alison, in the elo-
quent speech which he delivered at the late colonization
dinner at Glasgow. He said, that "if we look to our
exports and tonnage returns, we shall see that our ma-
ritime resources, for the last forty years, have been far
from keeping pace with our commercial growth, and
that our exports to the countries which we have made
the greatest sacrifices to propitiate, have been constant-
ly and rapidly declining, while those to our colonies,
for whose interests we have done so little, have been
as constantly and rapidly increasing ; and that it is the
growth of the latter which has concealed and counter-
balanced the decay of the former." If we bestow a
little attention on the subject, we shall find that these
remarks are pregnant with truth. Let us look at our
total exports, imports, and tonnage at the present mo-
ment, as compared with what they were at the peace
of Amiens. They stood as follows :
Exports. Imports. Tonnage.
1802.... £ 38,309,980 .. £29,826,210 .. 2,167,000
1838.... 105,170,549 .. 61,268,320 .. 2,890,601
From this tabular statement Mr. Alison deduces the
following irresistible conclusions :—that while, from
1802 to 1838, that is in six-and-thirty years, our ex-
ports have advanced from 38 to 105, that is about 280
per cent., and our imports from 29 to 61, that is about
210 per cent., our whole tonnage has only increased
from 21 to 28, that is about 33 per cent. : therefore,
the remainder of our merchandise must have been
carried abroad, and the remainder of our imports
wafted home, in foreign shipping—that is, by vessels
and seamen that may any day be ranged against us by
our enemies. This fact will be still more apparent if
we take the relative proportions of British and foreign
shipping employed in conducting our trade at each of
the above periods. These proportions were as follow
British and Irish. Foreign.
Vessels. Tons.
1802.. • • 7,806 1,333,005
1838.... 16,119 2,785,387

Vessels. Tons.
.. 3,728 480,251
.. 8,679 1,211,066

Thus, while the British tonnage in the last thirty-
six years has advanced from 13 to 27, that is some-
what more than doubled, the foreign shipping employed
in our trade has advanced from 48 to 121, that is nearly

trebled. No sophistry in the world can withstand the

force of this statement. It demonstrates, beyond the
possibility of contradiction, the startling fact that fo-
reign states have profited from the extension of our
commerce in a far greater ratio than we have ourselves.
But this subject admits of a still more instructive il-
lustration. If we investigate the particulars of our

trade with separate countries, we shall find where it is

that the decay of our tract?, and shipping is going on,
and where the counterbalancing influences are in ex-
istence. It appears from Mr. Porter's Parliamentary
Tables that since 1823, when the reciprocity system
commenced, our tonnage with the countries with which
the said treaties were concluded, has been invariably
and alarmingly decreasing, while no increase whatever
has taken place in the amount of the goods which they
take off our hands. The British and Foreign shipping
employed with Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway,
since 1820 have stood as follows :
British declined with Prussia, from 539 ships to 270
Denmark, 57 16
Norway, 168 15
Sweden, 123 66
On the other hand, the foreign ships engaged in the
trade of Great Britain have increased in the above
states, during the same period, as follows:
Prussia with Great Britain, increased from 258 to 903
Danish, 44 624
Norwegian, 558 785
Swedish, 71 250
Such have been the effects of the unilateral system
of reciprocity to which our Whig Ministers are so
singularly attached, and for the further extension of
which that prince of quacks, Dr. Bowring, has been en-
gaged as a missionary at the expense of the country !
Our trade with America, again, is not in a much
better situation. The following is a statement of the
shipping engaged in this trade :
British.
Tons.

Ships.

Ships.