The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-09-17 00:00:00

+HE- STATESMAN.

Ma. RlCA'ffibps.
•
(note l CORIttiIPONOVIT4
Tbis Denticulate' death has set the general herd who
write, a talking for a week; and some treaddlt from net
sgsially huddling men, has made one stare a little. A
rag paper, conducted with respectable talent, beads its
a
son to-day with an article (roman amazing first literary
gbagecter r of the dey, a pretty long eslogiurn upon the deceased
fudleman. The enlightened none Mho conduct the daily
evening press, have sounded similar strains. Let es,i
I otse all, look at the man as he was, and estimate Lim ac.,
mmHg to the praise they bestow; the bonbon of which
b, that be made to himself a large fortune ; that be was an
' amiable man; that he was a profound political economist;
say, a perfect character; and will be ranked (so says the
ltieuide) " with those who Lave given renown to the
' • ivy greatest names in the history of moral and political
s. science." Now, this is perfect twaddle. The writer
meant to say that "Mr. Rirardo's name would be renowned
o slug with those who have advanced moral and political
a' science ;"—so much for this effusion " from the pen of
' one of the first names in English literature."
• Mr. Ricardo's father was, if I recollect aright, a member
of the Jewish peculation, who early in life conformed to
the'llChurch of England ; and after making a considerable
fortune by traffic in securities, public and private, and in
foreign exchanges, left three of his sons in affluent dream-
stances. Well. there may be merit in that. One of those
was was some three years back, if he is not even now, a
erpectable medical man, at Bow, in Middlesex. and
gas for dip mot twenty-five years in affluent circum.
stances. 'hr. Ricardo, the economist, came into life
With st emitrtest fort une, and was educated from the egg
so the seiMme gooney making. As to his being the four-
. '&4 of his own fortune, it is not precisely the fact ; for ha
earns to the public market with a competent fortune, or sum
of-meney derived from his father, to speculate in securities
planed by a daring and profligate Minister, and his sec
(soars; securities which pledged the taxes drawn from
the lilmour of the many. to the few who could advance a
part, and take the chances of the Stock Market' fir a pr,s.
fit, an usurious profit, upon the remainder of the loans they
sutscribed to. Had there not have been thousands of IL-
cantos, there bad not bees one Mister Pitt!
This then was the Chronicle's " field of intense compe-
tition: in which Mr. Iticatdo more than quadrupled the
amount of his original, nut insignificant fortune. Why,
what of that, as extraordinary merit ! Is not this field of
intense competition," the field in which "many warciore.
weeny mighty men of Israel" have fought with equal gam
tf nut equal renown?
tih! but Mr. Ricardo was a very amiable man! With,
500,0001. at a man's command, it is wonderfully
easy to be amiable, and to he beloved. It was Mr. Ricardo a
interest to be beloved; anal as the founder of a family. he
has the merit of having been truly respectable in his line.
And let os not forget one thing to his credit, that Mr. Ri•
•cardo. almost alone, advocated boldly and honourably to
hiets-if the cause arose mon sense, humanity, decency, age.
decent respect for the lights of the times, if there are any
such lights.---When he implored the House of Commons to
estenal its protection, to the family of the miserable Carlisle.
" Alt le vertu on va'l se nicker" for ere, from the chaos of ;
Change Alley, rendered by the grand snatch Pitt, some
spark of humanity slid start oat; soil this political, ecuno
laical, and moral philosopher. Mr. Ricardo, did there and
thou exhibit it. Yet smother psetelo philosopher "of the
•passiug House." bight Wilberforce, did there and then op-'
pose Mr. Ricardo ; but let us use some discrimination in
our praise.
Mr. Ricardo was an acute, not s profonnd, man;
lie
knew little of the philosophy of mind. How should he,
whose better part of life was passed in 'Change Alley? He
knew as little of the history of mankind and human ways.
Ha carried into volitieal finance, as a science, the maxims
• of the counting house, and esteemed the art of raising the
wind. anal batelking a MM, a secret worthy a Minister's
leonine he was ingeniosts in expedient', had cloked
them wi It pl.oeihility; he had the tact of persuading the
• sionamon million, who find their way into Parliament, that
eba,-.ause he had added to a large fortune, received from his
4..e.'eer,the quadruple of its amount—becense be had turned
at 44 kindred thousand pounds into five hundred thousand—
the a 'as therefore a profound political economist. Ile had a
way, of taking very soberly, and in good set terms of *gins,
sezA4 ages in transferable value t the proportion of produce
so .6,4 sand, Red the dulness of the Bank Directors; and he
arteus.s neva' by numbers of the common place members
et Owl IMMO of Commons : bat as a great name in political
witenews he will go to the vault with -- sad
iiha Wee sr of the •
Why. 'he deuce is in it if Mr. Peel, Lord Liverpnol, or
tree Nr. Tansittart, (Lord Seeley!'l beg his perdon.) are
oft as go Od political economists as Mr. Ricardo, alas : was.
Ns yet, Mr. Ricardo's name will be remembered in the
Newry of English finance—tat as a philosopher in that
whore; s o, but as themes on whose seft.gestions the mind
of Me. Pee I, the devoted child to the slat sneer Pitt, brought
• forth.' hat Aug, yclept. " Peel's Bill," in the ever memorable
year 101 Mr. Ricardo deadled this bantling till it chuckle
aim " 30 p
er cetfl! only S per cent t!" In the credulous ears odf
due furl ha of the landed Gentlemen of England. By next
Odium, • deabtiese. the landed Gentlemen. will find out that
Iniest wt abut 375. the quarter, will be es much to be deplored
I. e. by %hest, as the loss to political end economical science
sestainetity the death of Mr. Ricardo—the echo, as Mr. R.
wee of Lord Liverpool's memorable overproduction, and the
ludieitietletho told the House, actually without being laughed
at, " Mat poor lands should be thrown out of cultivation. '—
Poor lands fetch proportionate poor Rents 1 but deuce the
staple coostry Oentientan told the political economist this ; so
astonished WO% they at the new views of political economy
disployed by Mr. Ricardo.
September l3, tea

1,4•,•-•

w• •

1

. - . .
Satrwsw., the Engineer, who invented the block ma•
elliaery in bis Majesty's Dock Yard, at Portsmouth, and
all the curious and intricate mechanical works in the Royal
Dock Yard of Chatham, it is said It the person who has pro-
jected ,thts Tunnel or Roadway ander the Thames, at Ito.
therbithe. Plausible as bit prospectus is, the failure of a
siMilar -attempt, near the spot proposed, about four and
sod twenty rears ago ought net to be forgotten.
A MAN ora..imma eta owT4 PaOraßTT.—!fours time age
• ;be house of Jobe Bancroft, of Wallin, in the parish of Role,
ma feloniously *shoed between the hours of 3 and 9 in
theafternom sod the fellowills . property stolen, viz. four
Obvereigm, a samekfroeir, a pair of boots, a neck handler
Chief, sad a soder waistcoat. The waistcoat belonged to
Bancroft, but the eemweiges and. other articles were the
rty of a person who lodged in the bons*. The lodger
• red quite oatragoonsi It the loss of his cash. Sm. bat
riaea
facts which have since transpired, it appear; •• that be
Wulf committed the robbery!" The circamsrattes ores
discovered lit his Making am df the sovereigns to par a ear
geoa far atria; him of a perecioas disorder. It is theaght
AO Ite adopted *ls stratagem for the" parpose of contemner/
-ft ellsatimi from a vseag woman to whole he }did hi.
-imis.—(lirieSei Alerts', )

SNIPPING INTELLIGENCE.
=.•■•■•••••• .
Ifisrr. Is.—Wind S.W. Arrived and sailed for the
rtver, the Cambridge, —, and Harmony. Carrie, from Ja-
maica ; Georgian., Watt, from Grenada; Magnet,
Alezaadria ; Thomas, Bell, from St. Vincent; Britannia. UV
atop, from Portugal;. Ibis, —, from Oporto; Elisabeth'
Guostoo, from Naples; Ranger, Spence. from Sierra Lewitt.
Sailed 15th August, and Ardgour, Duncin, from St. Domingo.
Passed through the George 4th, Salmon, from Gibraltar, for
Leith, sailed 49d August. Came down from the river and to.
main, the John Palmer, Clark, for the South Seas, and Marga-
ret, Lowe, for Glasgow. His Majesty's ship Brisk, In tenting
to the westward this forenoon, carried away both top masti
of the South Sand Head, and immediately put back into the
Downs.

Poartmotrru, Sere. 18.—Wind W.S.W. Arrived the Ellen-
beth, Boyle, from Gibraltar; and his Majesty's ship Madagas-
car, from the East Indies, and is put under quarantine, having
touched at the Island of Ascension; his Majesty's ship, silos•
gow, went out of harbour.
FLYWOUTA, Bapr. lb.—Wind S.Arrited the Henry and Isa-
bella, from Trieste, Louisa, Le Etas. from Gibraltar; Tyne-
mouth, from Petersburg, and Bengal, Merchant, from Lon-
don, for Madras.
FALMOUTH, Serf. 15.—Wind W. Attired the Bluchei
packet, from Lisbon, sailed the 7th inst.

AMENDMENT OF 'WAYS,
. .
The earriagi ways, as well as the ways of men and wo-
os*, la the metropolis, have long and each required &Mend-
mast; aid it is consoling to observe that 16 attempt at
last Li making to introduce something like a Risdivti Re
firm, it kut in the construction of the former, , Is the
narrow Part of Wych Street; a thoroughfare mdcb freektret-
'ad lay coal wa,ggosis and other beery vehicles, the expert-
merit wis tried last year of a granite stone rail-way ; but
the stones, being those commonly need for kirbs, proved
too shallow for their length, laud were soon sunk irregu-
larly; in many places, by the weight of the wheels. Last
week those stones were removed, and otbets of tin
same kind placed in their stead, about 2 feet 6 inane
long, 16 inches deep, and 2 feet wide. These wispy
about two-thirds of the carriage way; !raving the middle
in which the horses tread to be paved with the usual
sized granite skink, which can be mote readllf taken up
when the pipes beneath them need repair, To disturb
the massive stones that form the rail-way, will not be a
light or, nil matter, not cinly On accciunt of their weight, bat
from the extent of the surfaces of their ends, which come in
contact with each other; and wedge each other in; as well as
from the proportion which their length bears to their breadth
and depth.
The carriage-way in St. James's Sqoase, though not yet
finished, is in a forward state of preparation, according to
the plan of Mr. PtPAdam; and if Parliament-street be
treated in the same manner, as, according to report it soon
will be, this plan to which we heartily wish success, will
be fairly pot to the test, and, a chance afforded of fa-
cilitating the draught of carriages and diminiehing
noise in the streets. Some doubts, however, are
entertained, whether this substitnte for pavement, will
suit the constant traffic and heavy carriages of the metro-
polis; and till the small stones become consolidated into
one mass, such inconveniences as are stated in the annexed
extract from the Newcastle paper, may, in a much greater
degree, be apprehended in London. On the roads in Scot-
land, from which Mr. M'Adam took his hint, the traffic
being comparatively small, and the carriages light, these
materials answer well. There, no sewers, nor gas or water-
pipes, require the ground to be broken up for repairs, as
in town; and, independent of the greater wear
sod tear from the vehicles of the metropolis, it
is to be feared the disturbance of the materials on
these occasions, which frequently occur, will protlnce
patches and irregularities in the road, and prove the source
and feat of mud every rainy, day, and throughout every
winter. To prevent three inconveniences and preserve
uniformity in the work,a'new set of superintendentsoinst he
appointed; and from their creation and their salaries, it
may be apprehended that the end of all the work will be a
jab. It is hoped the plan, which is worth atrial, will not he
exposed to the satire which was applied nn the alteration of
the pavement of the strette,about 3 seri re years ago.accoriling
to the form of the High Street of Edinburgh. That alters-
lion was introduced during the administration of Lord
Bate; who, it was altered, introduced, about the same pe-
riod, an undue proportion of his countrymen intoj des and
places; and the coincidence, j .ined with the circumstance
of the removal of the pasts that need to stand at the edge
of the foot paths. to make way for the kirb stones, gave oc-
casion far the f..lluning epigram :"--
" The new-fashioned pavements deser Aug of praise;
" We're ohliged to the Scotch for amending our ways :
" But for what we can never forgive them some say,
" Is—that they have taken our roars all away."
The paragraph in the Newcastle Chronicle, alluded to above,
is as follows:—
It has been determined to take ap the pavement in Dean-
street, and suhmitote for it a road made upon the plan of Mr.
bl'Adam, who is now in this neighbourhood. On Wednesday
this operation wee beenn ; end the paving stones were removed
from a space of 20 or 33 feet broad, and reaching quite across
the street at its foot, and their place cspptie.l with whinstonos
broken small ; horses Rod much difficulty in dragging coaches
and carts through it ; this difficulty, we antirehenit, will
I render it necessary to carry the change into effect by degrees
only.
to

THE CANAL IN Sr. JAMte's PARK.—Monday morning,
the men commenced for the first time to draw off the ewer
in the Canal. St. James's Park, into the sewer, in order
to carry it off upon a level with the ri•pr, which will be
effected in a few days, when the steam-engine will be
brought into operation to draw it completely off. The
whole apparatus of the latter is now completed and fixed.
but there arc some hands still at work in covering it over
and finishingthe brick-work. Navigators are employed in
clearing the Canal and making room for the stream to flow
with greater rapidity; the mud on each side being carried
off by barrows.
Scicioe.—.Abont seven o'clock on Friday morning last,
a decent young woman, of the name of Ann Johnson, whO
kept a shop at Chepstow, was found suspended by a small
cord in the apartment in which she lived. By a paper
found on the show counter, written by herself, it appeared
that a breach of promis- of marriage was the cause that led
so the desperate and awful act. An inquest was held on the
body, and the verdict was—Destroyed herself under great
depression and agitation of mind.
FORTVNE Tsumn.—A woman whose husband has at-
tended Hanley and the neighbouring markets with spec-
tacles, Sac. and who conjointly took their abode at a lodg-
ing !loose in Hanley. some time since, so far ingratiated
herself into the good graces of Mr. Joseph Ridgway, mer-
cer, of that place, as to obtain on Wednesday afternoon
week, an introtitiction to an up stairs room for the purpose
of practising the sibvline art. Nothing could be done,
however, until the following articles were provided :-25
If. notes, 25 hairs of Mr. IL's head, 23 pins, 25 neeriles,aud
25 cards : two mould candles were also to be lighted and
placed on the table. 'these mystifying preliminaries, Were
at length completed, and Mrs. R. was directed to pay par-
ticular attention to what she (the enchantress) said, • tura
backwards towards me.' This position, not very favourable
for inspect q, excited Milfething of fear i o Mrs. R.'s mind for
the salty of her no•es,and owning her bead,she thoaght sonse
operation touching the said notes was going foriverd, and she
instantly lefithe room to fetch Mr. It. On his appearing aid
asking for the money—the woman said, his wife bad vexed'
her, and she had put it in the lire. They immediately
searched her, but uo notes could be founds nor has she yet
given any account. It t : supposed by some, that her nos.
band was waiting outside, and whilst Mrs. Ridgway was
out of the loom, she threw the notes (which Were made
into a little roll) to him. They were both taken before a
Magistrate. and romotitted to gaol, for " pretending to
tell-fortunes," to deceive and impose upon Adn Ridgway.
of Hanley; and James Itoitirgh, her husband, has also
been comtnitp.l for receiving 2llf. thus fraudulently
obtained. On being searched, in pelmets nine of the IL
eotestierefoubd concealed between the Wier and miter
soles of the woman's shoes.--Vfneerdakiet Adeertieer.)
C0414.MA MEET. PM. IS.
Shiite at Market. Ships Sold. Price.
SI Newcastle ...... Of .. id to 41s Ad
7 Siusderlsoll..... AI Ud to 415