Mr. Pitt in 1800, that they began to divide these bonuses? How long was it after Mr Thornton, the governor, who suggested and negociated that renewal, had published his work on paper credit, dated in 1802, from which, I must trouble you with another extract; p. 151. After stating that the necessary profit of a bank must be at least six per cent, and gently sliding the argument into a supposition that the Bank might have gained seven, or eight, or nine, per cent. be proceeds thus : If the whole profits of "the Bank had been lately restricted to se"ven per cent. they would have been li"mited to that sum which the Bank pro

prietors had been for some time in the "habit of receiving. They would have "been confined to a sum which would not easily have admitted of accumulation. "By obtaining a higher profit the directors "have secured to the proprietors the con"tinuation of the same regular dividends, " and have thus prevented that uncertainty "which would have encouraged gambling "in bank stock. They have also made, in "the course of years, an important addi"tion to their capital, an addition which "has caused it to maintain nearly an uni"form proportion to the growing extent of "the transactions of the Bank, and to the "advancing commerce of the country, an " addition also by the help of which they "have lately lent to government three mil"lions without interest, for a short term of "years, as the price of the renewal of their " charter. They have thus strengthened "that security which the creditors of the "Bank possess, so far as additional capital "can strengthen it, and they will be able "hereafter, if it shall seem necessary, "invest in gold, in addition to what they "could otherwise have invested, a much "larger sum than they could with any pro"priety, have so invested in time past." Among all these good reasons for making a higher profit than seven per cent, not a word, not a hint is dropped about the prospect of any bonuses, or a future increase of dividends; but the Bank, it seems, have taken sufficient care not to add to their ability of investing in gold, (when it shall seem necessary, forsooth) by dividing their profits in due time. And will Mr. Thornton say that that dividend furnishes no moral impediment to such an investment? Again, Sir, why did not the report notice the amount of the undivided capital as well as the bonuses? Parliament would then have better known. the amount of their profits. I do not remember that Mr. Thornton's book ever speaks of that capital as greater than it

to

was five years before, viz: in the year 1797, when it was stated at £3,800,000, although Mr. Thornton so early as the year 1800, saw the propriety of getting a renewal of the charter, 12 years being then unexpired. Why, too, did not the report notice the commutation of the Bank with government in liew of stamps, taken 1 beDeve at £30,000 per annum, when I have been credibly informed by a gentleman concerned in only two out of the 518 Country Banks 100 now existing in the country, that his two concerns alone paid not less than 1500 per annum for that purpose, a sum equal to a twentieth part of the Bank payment.But, it is not the interest alone of the Bank stock, which should fasten on our attention. -That, we are told, is a trifling consideration: let us then look to the principal.—In the month of June 1797, only ten years ago, the stock of the bank was at 1151 and now the report states it at 230, a rise in ten years of one hundred per cent.-And what greater risque I shouid be glad to ask, does the proprietor of Bank stock run than the proprietor of the three per cents? Why should the one receive a full dividend of ten per cent, with the prospect of additional bonuses on what was worth only 115 in the year 1797, while the other only receives £2, 14s. on what was then worth 46. What establishment in England besides the Bank has for several sucsessive years, divided by half yearly payments, a profit of 12 per cent, and at the same time doubled the value of its capital? But the Bank of England, Mr. Thornton tells us, is quite independent of the executive government, and so are the directors too, I dare swear, all independent. -He tells us, too, when speaking of the trifling consideration of the dividends (but it is in a note), that a large proportion of the Bank proprietors do not hold more than £1000 stock. He forgets however to tell us how much in general the directors hold.--When there are accrued bonuses of five per cent for several successive years, one would think that there must be some secrets in the direction worth knowing, notwithstanding the dividends are such a trifling consideration. Would it be very uncharitable to suppose, that if any one of that direction were in the constant habit of proffering a set of laboured reasons for his uniform support of all ministers of all parties, that such a director's line of Bank stock might furnish one of those mighty good reasons? Could not Mr. Thornton have dissipated the surprize expressed by his old friend Mr. Tierney in the debates on the renewal of the charter" that it was strange that though the salary of a director was only

£150 the office was aspired to by the richest men in the kingdom, and more eagerly sought after than any one in the gift of the crown;" but Mr. Thornton, I believe, was absent from that debate - Did the good old lady's dear departed Cicisbeo, the late Mr. Abraham Newland, too, hold only.C1000 Bank stock? The curiosity of the town has been lately gratified with the particulars of that gentleman's will, by which it seems that tho' a mere groom of the chamber all his life time, he has left property beltind him to the amount of 7000 per annum : but he, too, I presume had a full share of the old lady's bonuses. Again Sir, Dr. Smith has long ago told us, that the stability of the Bank of England is equal to that of the English government; and who is there that doubts it? Without any question, the natural durability of the present paper system will go nigh to render them both eternal. But then again I ask, why should the Bank proprietor who has the same security as the proprietor of the 3 per cents, have any preference over him since the year 1797.-Why should the Bank have an annual premium of three per cent paid to them never to pay in gold any more? Why should they reap the benefit of their own avarice and misconduct at the expence of every other class of the public creditors.Why should they get their Income Tax paid, by profits arising out of the balance which they hold by stopping the income tax of the other public creditors? The Bank I am sure, will not contend that the price of their stock has been increased by the depreciation of their paper, because although there might be some truth in the argument, it would not be very convenient when applied to the holders of the other stocks, who having suffered full sorely from the effects of that depreciation in other respects, are nevertheless stripped of a tenth of its depreciated value. But, Sir, the Bank have never inissed an opportunity of increasing or confiruring their growing profits. To prove this, it will be only necessary to take a short review of the opinions of parliament as expressed in their own reports. By the report of the committee of finance in 1797, it appears that so early as the year 1726 the sum of £360 per million was chosen upon the express ground of being a reasonable compensation for the charges of management.→→ Within seventeen years afterwards however, the Bank had managed to raise it to £562: 10s per million, at which sum it continued till the year 1786.-In that year it was reduced to £450 per million, although the commissioners of public accounts then stated upon full deliberation, that £350 per mil

lion was very sufficient compensation, and although it had been previously stated by the auditors of public accounts, that the business might be done for £187 10s. per million.So early then inMr. Pitt's career as the year 1786, it appears that he had not public virtue enough left to carry the report of his own commissioners into effect:That even then he had begun to feed and flatter the avarice of the Bank of England.-And was the sequel of his career less prodigal ? In the year 1791, only five years after the report of 1780 had deemed the allowance for management excessive, the Bank would not even part with a balance of unclaimed dividends without having that allowance confirmed on the existing debt, and, according ly, the same act of parliament which granted the unclaimed dividends confirmed the excessive rate. By this well-timed largess in a season of approaching difficulty, and at the same time by omitting to make any stipulation for the rate of allowance on any future debt, Mr. Pitt well knew that he was not only rewarding the Bank for their past support, but that he was also gaining a security for their good behaviour in the expectation of a similar rate of excessive allowance for the future, and accordingly the rate of 450 per million passed unnoticed till the year 1797-In that year the memorable stoppage, the natural death of the Bank, took place, and Mr. Pitt's committee of finance again expressed a strong opinion that £300 per million was a sufficient compensation for the management of the public debt; but again Mr. Pitt and Parliament in his wake passed over with neglect the suggestion of their own committee.

-So the matter rested till the year 1800, when Mr. Thornton, probably seeing the growing profits of the bank, with the provident caution of an experienced captain, set about securing the mouth of the cave before he would proceed to a division of the plunder. He, therefore, on the part of the bank came to an agreement with the minister for a further renewal of the charter for 21 years, the bank consenting as a consideration for the extended charter to furnish government with a loan of 3,000,000, for six years without interest; but, at the same time taking care to exact a promise, that the public balances should not be withdrawn without compensation. The result of this agreement therefore, was, that as even at that time the average amount of the balances was fully equal to the amount of the loan, the bank, in fact, obtained an extension of their charter for 21 years for nothing, and in addition thereto got the allowance of 450 per million

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on the then increased debt again confirmed by parliament; or, rather, again passed over in silence; and in silence it has remained till the publication of the present report, for I pass over the paltry sop of L00,000 per annum thrown to the public in 1806. that report, however, by far the most cutions part is the studied apology which it Contains for the conduct of Mr. Pitt at the time of the renewal." The circumstance of "the bank" (says the report)" gaining a profit by the management of the public debt, appears to have been in some degree "adverted to, but the propriety of the rate of allowance then subsisting did not come "particularly under consideration. The "documents necessary to form a correct "opinion upon the complicated concerns of "this extensive business, were probably not

fully before either of the two parties at "the time of this agreement, as it is ob"vious that they cannot be collected with"out considerable and detailed investiga"tion, nor digested without industry and "attention, and the pressure of other duties "may well account for a want of leisure for "so laborious a research at the period of "the renewal of the charter." What a miserable subterfuge! The documents had been, or ought to have been already three times before parliament during his own administration. Once in 1780, again in 1791, and again in 1797. It was but carrying the report of his own commissioners made fourteen years before, and with fourteen years of increased debt to strengthen it, into effect; and his memory might have been spared this stale and sherling apology. And shall such conduct be deemed not criminally negligent, or profusely corrupt?-Such, Sir, has been the history of the present Report*; and who, on reading it, will say that the Bank of England is a patriotic corporation, or that the House of Commons are the virtuous and vigilant guardians of the public purse? Before they can even set about correcting an evil of acknowledged magnitude, and daily and hourly increasing, twenty years are suffered to pass away, and three different reports of their own body all breathing the same language, are received and disregarded.--May the fate of the present, of the fourth report, be more auspicious. May it produce something more to the people than a few thousands from the unclaimed dividends, and a fresh coufirmation or the old neglect of the present rate of allowance. May it oblige the bank to recur back to their old dividend of seven per cent, and in preventing them

* The Report will be found in the Appen. to Cobbett's Parlimentary Debates, vol. 9.

from taking advantage of their own misconduct, may it place them on an equitable footing with the other creditors of the public. But, I confess, Sir, that notwithstanding the indication of an approaching storm in Threadneedle Street, which the Report seems calculated to raise, notwithstanding the hints and interviews and conferences and paragraphs, that are daily paraded to the eye on this business. I do not see that the barometer of the bank, the price of its stock at all gives way, I do not perceive that any fears are entertained in the penetration of this grand temple of corruption for the saf ty of its present profits. The present price of its stock is above 226, and the directors, it should seem, place a firm reliance on their knowledge of the men they have to deal with. Of those men I shall not for the present say much. I will say, however, that if they should receive the directors of the bank with as firm a front, as they seem disposed to receive the external enemies of their country, they will so far, at least, deserve the thanks of the people. As soon as the report is disposed of, I shall request permission through the medium of your Register, to follow up the subject a little farther. -I am, Sir, your obedient servant,-H. B. Lewes, Jun. 21, 1809.

OFFICIAL PAPERS, AMERICAN STATES.-Non-importation Act, passed 18th April, 1806.-Together with a Supplementary det, passed about 10th Dec. 1807.

(Concluded from p. 160.)

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, that all penalties and forfeiture arising under this act may be sued for and recovered, and shall be distributed and accounted for in the manner prescribed by the act, entitled “ an Act to regulate the collection of duties on Imports and Tonnage:" and such penalties and forfeitures may be examined, mitigated, or remitted in like manner, and under the like conditions, regulations, and restrictions as are prescribed, authorised, and directed by the act, entitled

an act to provide for mitigating or remitt ing the forfeitures, penalties and disabilities, accruing in certain cases therein mentioned.' Supplementary Act.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America, in congress assembled, that nothing in the act to which this is a supplement, shall be so construed as to prohibit the importation of the following articles, that is to say-Wrappers and outside packages in which gouds, the importation of which is not prohibited, usually are and shall

be wrapped or packed at the time of their importation.-2. Bags or sacks in which salt shall be imported.-3. Glass bottles or phials, in which drugs, medicines, or any other articles, the importation of which is not prohibited, shall be imported.-4. Printed books, maps, and charts.-5. Watches, mathematical, astronomical, and surgical instruments.-6. Shallons and woollen stuffs.-Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, that the articles of the following description shall be held and considered as being em-. braced by the description of articles, the importation of which is prohibited by the act to which this act is a supplement, that is to say. All articles manufactured entirely of silk and wool, or of silk and flax, or of flax and wool;-Floor cloths ;-Woollen cassimeres, carpets, carpeting and mats, whose invoice prices shall exceed five shillings sterling per square yard -Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, that whenever a doubt shall arise whether any articles imported into the United States is is embraced by the description of articles the importation of which is prohibited by the act to which this act is a suplement, the comptroller's decision thereon, approved by the secretary of the treasury, shall be final and conclusive, and be taken and held in every respect as the true construction of the act.-Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, that no articles which shall be imported from any place beyond the Cape of Good Hope, on board any vessel, cleared out before the day of from any port within the United States or the territories thereof, for the said Cape of Good Hope, or any place beyond the same, shall be subject to the prohibition enacted be the act to which this act is a supplement.

JAMAICA. -Speech of the Lt. Governor to the Council and Assembly, and the Assembly's answer, at the Opening of the Session, in Oct. 1307.

Influenced by an uniform desire to promote the public benefit, I have deemed it expedient to assemble the legislature at the earliest period I thought consistent with your private convenience.--I should have rejoiced, had I been enabled to congratulate you on the success of our allies on the continent of Europe: amidst their reverses, however, it is to be recollected that the resources of the British Empire remain unimpaired; and I trust that an honourable, secure, and permanent peace will be, under the blessings of Providence, attained by the firmness and moderation of his Majesty's councils, and by the valour of his fleets and armies. I have much satisfaction in learning, that the geneval scarcity of provisions, recently prevalent,

is likely to be succeeded by abundance: the late seasonable rains will secure the island from a sudden return of this evil; yet I earnestly recommend your adopting the most efficacious measures for preventing the recurrence of so great a calamity. It was to me a source of very peculiar gratification, that the distress was alleviated by the effects of my proclamation, which extended the term of the intercourse with the United States of America; but the subsistence of the inhabitants should depend as little as possible on, a resource so precarious as that of a supply from distant countries.-The establishing of St. Ann's Bay as a free-port, and the making of Port-Morant, Port Maria, and Falmouth, ports of entrance and clearance, are objects of great importance, and cannot be regarded otherwise than as additional proofs of his Majesty's paternal care for the welfare of his subjects in this colony. -I rely with that confidence, which the experience I have of your known liberality so well justifies, for those supplies which the exigencies of government require.-My inspection of the militia throughout the island affords me the satisfaction of making known to you the general improved state of that essential branch of our defence. Some of the regiments in particular have made considerable progress in discipline and appearance, while the laudable spirit of emulation and loyalty, which pervades the whole body, cannot fail of producing the most beneficial consequences -The forts and batteries along the coast have already derived advantages from your wise regulation during the last session: a system of regularity, economy, and military arrangement, now exists in this establishment, which must effectually tend to the general defence of the island.-When I reflect on the great and arduous contest in which the British empire is now engaged, it were vain to conceal that our present meeting is in times of no common difficulty: from you I expect all that can be effected by public spirit, united exertions, and the sacrifice of individual interests to the general weal; from me you may rely on receiving, upon all occasions, the most cordial co-ope ration in every measure which is calculated to increase the public happiness, promote the prosperity, and insure the safety of this country.

Assembly's Answer.We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of Jamaica, beg leave to thank your honour for your speech at the opening of this session-We are fully sensible of your honour's uniform desire to promote the public benefit, and gratefully acknowledge your attention in assembling the legislature at the

earliest period you thought consistent with our private convenience:-We regret the reverses which have befallen our allies on the continent of Europe; but we, however, sincerely join with your honour in the hope, that, as the resources of the British empire remain unimpaired, an honourable, secure, and permanent peace will be, under the blessing of Providence, ultimately attained:

1

We shall give our serious attention to your honour's recommendation of adopting the most efficacious measures for preventing the recurrence of so great a calamity as a general scarcity of provisions, recently prevalent, but which has been providentially removed by the late seasonable rains; and we gratefully own the beneficial effects of your honour's proclamation, in alleviating the distress incident to a dependence on a resource so precarious as that of a supply from distant countries:-We duly appreciate his Majesty's paternal care for the welfare of his subjects in this colony, when we contemplate the great importance of the extended establishment of the free ports and ports of entry and clearance: Your honour may rely on our granting such supplies for the exigencies of government, as the extent of our means, and the existing circumstances of the country, will justify. We are happy to be assured by your honour of the general improved state of the militia, and of the system of regularity, economy, and inilitary arrangement, which, under your honour's direction, exists in the present establishment of forts and batteries, as regulated by the act of the last session :Fally aware that our present meeting is in time of no common difficulty, when the British empire is engaged in a most arduous contest, and the colonies are suffering under the pressure of new and peculiar distresses, we are sensible, that it is incumbent upon us to sacrifice our individual interests, and to unite our greatest exertions for the general weal: and we rely with the most perfect confidence on your honour's assurance or a cordial co-operation in every measure, which is calculated to increase the happiness, promote the prosperity, and insure the safety of this country.

RUSSIA.Sequestration of English. Property; dated at Petersburgh, Nov. 19, 1807.

By our Ukase of the 28th Oct. last, to the Minister of Commerce, Count N. Rau miantzoff, regarding the laying on an embargo upon the English property in Russia, we ordered liquidation commissions to be formed here, at Riga, and at Archangel, under the controul of the College of Com

merce. On the representation of the mi nister, that the liquidation comptains appointed in 1800, were, by their mode of conducting business is nature, perfectly adequate to the object a view. We now order that liquidation commissions be at present appointed, in every respect, strictly according to the principles and spirit of the Ukase given the 25th of Nov. 1800, upon a report of the College of Commerce in consequence of the embargo laid that year on the property of the English, with this only alteration, that the fixed number of Russian merchants to be chosen for the liquidation commission of this plan, but not otherwise appointed than with the confirmation of the minister, and in the other towns with the confirmation of the chief authorities contiguous thereto.-The said commissioners are to take cognizance of all the goods and property of the English which were embargoed by our Ukase of the 21st (ult.) Oct. 1807; and this sequestration is to be extended to all their capital monies and bills, excepting their monies placed in our Banks, which, by the laws, are in no case to be touched. The Councillor of State, and Member of the College of Commerce, Baikoff, is to be president in the commission here.

FRENCH COMMERCIAL DECREE, signed, Napoleon, and dated at Milan, Nov. 23, 1807.

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine. Upon the report of our Minister of the Finances, we have decreed, and decree as follows:-Art. I. All vessels which, after having touched at England, from any motive whatsoever, shall enter the ports of France, shall be seized and fiscated, as well as their cargoes, without exception or distinction of commodities or merchandize.-II. The captains of vessels who shall enter the ports of France, shall, on the day of their arrival, proceed to the office of the Imperial Customs, and there make a declaration of the place from which they sailed, of the ports they have put into, and exhibit their manifests, bills of lading, sea-papers, and log-books. When the captain shall have signed and delivered his declaration, and communicated his papers, the head officer of the customs shall interrogate the sailors separately, in the presence of two overseers. If it results from this examination that the vessel has touched at England, independent of the seizure and confiscation of the said ship and cargo, the cap tain, as well as those sailors, who, upon exa minations shall have made a false declara: