which was amongst the few valuable relics that he selected to accompany his captivity. It must have been a striking and a melancholy sight enough to see him stretched upon that bed, the natural parent of such associations, and surrounded, on a tropical rock, by the few faithful friends who preferred his prison to all the splendours which might have illumined their apostacy at the court of his successors. Their grief is described as having been most poignant and overwhelming; and, indeed, it seemed to have been among the most remarkable peculiarities of this wonderful man, to have borne a fascination about him, the influence of which was never forgotten by those who once experienced it. On the return of the exiles to Europe, we hope to be able to present our readers with details, not perhaps within the reach of every journalist. This death may, ere long, cause an important crisis in the European governments-it has certainly transferred from the hands of England, to those of Austria, a very powerful political engine. The remaining foreign intelligence of this month is very circumscribed. The Greeks and Turks maintain their former hostility; and the accounts of their various successes and vicissitudes are so uncertain, and so contradictory, that it is impossible to say to what credit they are entitled. It is, however, quite clear, that the insurgents still maintain themselves in successful insurrection; and so far there certainly is some evidence that these triumphs are not altogether unfounded, or they could not continue to array themselves so long as they have done against the weight and authority of a regular government. It is said that two great powers, England and Russia, have offered their umpirage in this interesting contest. The sincerity of the latter power, however, may well be doubted, where Turkey is concerned. The king of Portugal has returned to his European dominions, where he has been received as quietly as if he had merely left them on a tour of pleasure; in the mean time, his son, the prince and heir apparent, remains in the Brazils as regent. The Spanish Ambassador, at Vienna, has presented to that court a very strong re

monstrance against the language held by Austria during the late Neapolitan commotion. This is all the intelligence from abroad, of the slightest interest, since our last publication.

During the last month, our domestic intelligence is almost necessarily confined to the Coronation; an event which has excited, not merely in the metropolis, but throughout the whole kingdom, so general and so paramount an interest. We have made every possible exertion to procure for our readers the most satisfactory account of this splendid spectacle, and to our communication on this subject we must, at present, content ourselves with referring them, fully confident that it will satisfy their expectations. The remaining events which have occupied the public attention are few, and not very interesting. The Queen having laid before the Privy Council a claim relating to her right to a participation in the great national ceremony, Lord Londonderry informed the House of Commons that she should be heard before the proper tribunal, by her attorney and solicitor general. Accordingly, on Tuesday the 6th inst. the Privy Council assembled at Whitehall for the purpose of hearing those learned gentlemen on that subject. The arguments on each side occupied some days; after a due consideration of which, the Council informed the King that they had come to an unanimous opinion against the claim; which was communicated in due form to Her Majesty. Her Majesty's course, upon the receipt of this communication, our readers will learn from our description of the ceremony. Mr. Hume attempted to move an Address upon this subject in the House of Commons, which, however, was frustrated by the appearance of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod summoning the members to hear the parliament prorogued by commission. His Majesty, it is generally understood, will proceed to Ireland in the course of a few days; he intends to embark at Brighton, but some of his suite, anxious to avoid that circuitous route, will proceed by Holyhead. In the mean time the Citizens of Dublin are busy in preparing for his suitable reception. A very singular phenomenon has lately occupied the attention of

the sister kingdom. An immense tract of bog was observed in motion in the vicinity of Tullamore, in the King's County, at about eight o'clock in the evening, about a fortnight ago, and it has since continued in slow but steady progress. To account for it baffles the ingenuity of the most scientific naturalists; and amongst the people generally it has excited an universal alarm. The country, for miles around, was suddenly agitated by a violent convulsion, and the shocks were accompanied by a noise resembling thunder. The earth was rent asunder at a place called Kilmaladay; when a torrent, composed of boggy compound, issued forth, and covered the country, to the extent of three hundred acres. It forced through every impediment, carrying in its progress every implement of husbandry; which, at the time, happened to occupy the ground over which it spread. The quantity of bog, at present in motion, is estimated at above two thousand acres! Westminster Hall has been opened for public inspection by Lord Gwydyr, whose attention to every wish expressed by the public, during the late ceremony, could not be exceeded. There has also been a very grand Concert at Westminster Abbey, in honour of the Coronation, and in furtherance of the funds of the Westminster Hospital. It was most numerously attended, and was patronized by the heads of every political party. This is as it should be, and, as we hope it always will be in England, where the interests of charity are concerned.

The first indictment preferred by the Constitutional Society against Mary Anne Carlisle, for a libel, came on for trial at Guildhall, on the 24th instant, before Mr. Justice Best, and a special jury. The judge informed them that, in his opinion, the libel was one of a most grossly seditious character, upon which they retired. In the course of about half an hour, the learned justice desired an officer to intimate to the jury, that he was in attendance upon them. They accordingly returned, when his Lordship told them, that he had sent for them, in consequence of a note which he had received from their foreman, stating that they were not likely to agree. If he could give them any

assistance on the subject, he professed his willingness to do so. After some irrelevant observations, not of the most amicable nature, amongst themselves, they again retired, and after remaining impannelled for the entire night, they were discharged next morning by consent of the parties, their unanimous agreement having been ascertained to be impossible. This is a sad debût for this celebrated association. A few days before parliament was prorogued, Mr. Whitbread moved for an address to his Majesty, praying that he would be graciously pleased to order a noli prosequi to be entered upon all prosecutions commenced by this association, which was, however, negatived without a division. If all juries act as that impannelled upon this occasion did, it was very right in the honourable House not to put his Majesty to such unnecessary trouble.

We congratulate the country on the prospect of a speedy alleviation of that distress which has arisen from a deficiency of the circulating medium. The Manchester papers state, that "arrangements are making by the two principal Banks there, viz. those of Messrs. Jones, Loyd, and Co. and Messrs. Heywood, Brothers, and Co. for the early issue of local notes. The quantity of Cash weekly required for the great manufacturing population of that town, and the surrounding district, is so immense, as to put it out of the power of the bankers to make arrangements for providing it in metallic currency. It is satisfactory to reflect, in this introduction of local notes into Manchester, that the issue of them is in the hands of such well known capitalists, as to justify, in the public mind, the most perfect assurance of their stability." This example will be followed, we have no doubt, by every Bank of undoubted responsibility in the kingdom: prices will then again rise, and distress will speedily disappear. By the increase of our circulating medium, the public burthens will be deprived of that unjust and unnecessary overweight, which they have acquired from the improvement in the value of money by the restrictions of the Bank issues; and an equal, uniform, and general retrench

ment, will, from this source, be virtually and irresistibly effected in all the departments of state. We shall probably offer in a future number a more explicit declaration of the grounds on which we have founded these observations. In the mean

time, we have the pleasure to add, that the arrangements abovemention, ed are in such a state of forwardness, as to leave little doubt that, in the course of another fortnight, the issue of local notes at Manchester will be in full operation.

THE transactions, which concern the landed interest and agricultural science, have been so various and so important during the last few weeks, that our article must necessarily be this month considerably extended.

The Report of the Select Committee, to whom the several petitions complaining of the distressed state of the agriculture of the United Kingdom were referred, has been published. This document declares, that no present relief can be afforded by legislation, while the hopes it holds out of any future provisions to alleviate the distress are so very slender, and so conditionally put, that it must be now quite clear that agriculture will be left to find its own level whatever be the consequences. The Report, however, is decidedly ministerial, being drawn up, not as usual by the Chairman of the Committee, (Mr. Gooch,) but by Mr. Huskisson, a member of administration. This paper must also be considered rather as a general exposition of those elements and principles of political economy by which the Government regulates its present policy in regard to agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, than as a more direct reply to the allegations of the petitioners. It is, indeed, apologetical, as well as declaratory.

The Report is divided into seven sections. The first simply states the provisions of the law at present in force with respect to the trade in corn, viz.-that free importation and exportation are at all times permitted, but that corn can only be sold in this country when the prices are above a certain average. The second sets out with the important concession, that "the complaints of the petitioners are founded in fact, in so far as they represent that, at the present price of corn, the returns to the occupier of an arable farm, allowing for the interest of his investment, are by no means adequate to the charges and outgoings; of which a considerable portion can be paid only out of the capitals, and not from the profits, of the tenantry." The Committee go on to express their doubts (founded on official returns) as to the contraction of the demand for various articles of consumption: they infer that the profits of farming during the war were somewhat above the ordinary profits of capital in other branches, and that they are now considerably below that rate; but similar revulsions, they say, have oc

REPORT.

curred at various periods of history, and they indulge the hope that the tenantry will still be able to surmount their difficulties. From this they take occasion to notice the diminution of rents which has already taken place, and the causes of the rise between 1793 and 1814. Improvements form one part, and the state of the currency another, of these causes; and to the latter they mainly attribute the depression of price. They hazard an opinion that the ultimate effects upon rent will be below the anticipated results, and will not indeed exceed

that proportion of the increase which, during the war, grew out of the depreciated value of the currency."

This section concludes with two inferences very momentous to the farmer:-1st. That the present depression is the consequence of the abundance of the two last harvests:-and, 2dly, that the previous importations were necessary to supply the wants of the kingdom. Our readers will scarcely fail to apprehend how much hinges upon these points, since the one declares the country can grow more than enough in plentiful years for its own consumption, while, in years a little below the average, recourse must be had to a foreign supply; and thus a competition, in the one instance, must be established between English growers to dispose of a redundant crop; and, in the other, between the English and the foreign proprietor. This state of things, it will also be clearly understood, can leave no alternative between a duty which would compensate the farmer by a high price for his present high expenses, and a general fall of prices to the level of the Continent. To this part of the Report, therefore, we would particularly direct the general attention.

The third section opens with referring to former periods of agricultural distress; which, having been sur mounted, afford, by their similarity, the hope of surmounting the present difficulties. It also alludes to the suffering state of other kingdoms. It affirms, that an average crop is now equal to the national consumption-but couples this remark with conjecture originally made by Mr. Burke, that "years of plenty or of scarcity happen in pretty large cycles, and irregularly." From this the conclusion is, that the condition of the grower of corn, in a country where the remunerating prices shall habity ally exceed the prices of the

rest of the world, must be hazardous and embarrassing. The Committee then go on to show that what is called a remunerating price must fluctuate with circumstances; and, with a view to this particular object, they recommend an earnest consideration of the effects of the present corn laws. The English farmer, they assert, has for the two last harvests enjoyed a monopoly; and protection cannot be carried further than monopoly. They then state that the present glut must continue until years of scarcity shall arise and carry off the redundance -and, from all these circumstances combined, they infer the general probability of great fluctuations in price.

The fourth section discusses the effects of the present enactments regarding such fluctuations, which it is very wisely pronounced to be the interest of grower and consumer alike to avoid. The Committee admit that it is the necessary tendency of the law now in force to produce them. They examine the operation of former laws, and submit to Parliament the propriety of considering whether a trade in corn, free at all times, but subject to a duty, would not be preferable. Such a change, however, they own can be attempted only at a future period, and under a favourable situation of things. In such an event they recommend lowering the rate at which corn is admissible, and to guard the consumer by enacting, that whenever the price shall have reached a certain high rate, the duty shall cease altogether. In the last paragraph, the Committee embrace a variety of points;-the free competition of soils in the home market-the advantage of continuing a forced cultivation of inferior lands-the effects of public burdens, &c.; and they infer, "that, within the limits of the existing competition at home, the exertions of industry and the investment of capital in agriculture ought to be protected against any revulsion, but that the protection ought to go no further." At the close the Committee recommend, that "every opportunity should be watched, and every practical measure adopted, for reducing the amount of the public expenditure."

The fifth division opens with so prudent a reservation between free trade on the one side, and vested interest on the other, that it is scarcely possible to gather any practical conclusion from its recommendations. The Committee refer whatever comes after to a due estimation, with a relation to these grand considerations.

Recurring to former periods, they, how ever, conclude, that no provisions to force or encourage agriculture ever equalled the stimulus supplied by the increase of demand that arose during the last reign. Looking to the general progress of affairs during that period, they state that, "the present solidity, and future improvement,

of our national wealth, depend on the continuance of that union by which our agricultural prosperity is so clearly connected with the preservation of our manufacturing and commercial greatness;" and hence they suggest the wisdom of guarding against dependence on a foreign supply, as well as against such a price of subsistence as may expatriate capital and skill. For, say they, with the irresistible force of truth, the difference in the cost of subsistence operates in the same manner as taxation to diminish the profits of capital in this country, and there can be as little doubt, that though capital may migrate, the unoccupied population will remain, and remain to be maintained by the landed interest, upon whose resources, in proportion to diminished demand, this additional burthen would principally fall."

66

The report then proceeds to examine the effect of taxation upon agriculture, and the inference drawn is as follows:-" whilst they are desirous of correcting the mistaken opinion, that the depression under which our agriculture now labours is either exclusively or principally to be attributed to taxation, they cannot disguise from themselves, that the weight of the public burthens of the country, their nominal amount remaining the same, must be more severely felt, in proportion as the many incomes derived from trading, farming, and manufacturing industry are diminished."

The sixth section rejects positively the proposition of some of the petitions, which prays a duty of forty shillings a quarter on wheat, as utterly subversive of all foreign commerce, which they say would be annihilated by the recognition of such a principle, and they show the misconception with regard to the protection afforded to manufacture, on which this principle is adopted by the Petitioners. They also controvert the manifest errors upon which the opposition to the warehousing clause in the present act is founded, and show the advantages the country derives from being made a deposit for foreign corn.

The last division commences with lamenting, that the Committee is unable to recommend any immediate means of alleviation; and after recapitulating the causes of distress, and then declaring that these are in their own nature irremediable by legislative enactments, the Committee cite the reduction of the interest of money from accumulating capital, and the diminution of public burdens, by the operation of the sinking fund, as the likeliest means of encouraging and augmenting national prosperity, and out of which alone the relief

can come.

Such is the abstract of this elaborate composition, of which we can only say, that we regret its materials should afford so many points for controversy, and so many,

too, where the delusion is palpable. Of such a kind is the reference to the sinking fund at the end, of which all that the public knows is, that the expence of its machinery exceeds its actual production, and that the defalcation of revenue in the present year leaves no hope of its effectual operation.

To this report two answers have been given, the one in the commentary contained in a very able letter from Mr. Curwen to those who entrusted him with petitions, the other in the report of the Committee of the Agricultural Associations at Henderson's. Mr. Curwen, after a very clear exposition of the errors in the arguments adduced in Mr. Huskisson's report, concludes that, "if protection to all agricultural produce is not to be granted, the country must then direct its views to the only alternative, which is, to cut down our establishments, contract the scale of expence at home and abroad, demolish all useless places, reduce the amount of salary paid from the crown to the lowest officer of the state, and call upon the funded proprietor for his contribution of a fair proportion to the exigences of the state."

The report of the Committee at Henderson's recites at large their proceedings to excite the attention of the legislature-the appointment of the Committee, and the communications that took place. They there declare that, "the substance, the very essence of their prayers are entirely overlooked," in Mr. Huskisson's report, and they very sarcastically allude to the opinions of its framer-they prophecy "direful effects" in two years from its publication, and appeal from the Select Committee to the parliament to render them justice, by protection equal to that which manufactures now receive. It concludes by a vote of thanks to those members of the Committee who favoured their claim, and in particular to Mr. Curwen and Mr. John Foster.

The Holkham sheepshearing was not only more numerously attended than ever, but there was a far greater assemblage of eminent political characters, and of distinguished persons from distant counties: his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex; his Grace the Duke of Bedford; the Earls of Albemarle, Arundel, and Nugent; the Marquis of Tavistock; Viscount Althorpe; Lords Erskine and Crewe; Lord W. Russell; Sir Francis Burdett; Sir John Sinclair; Sir J. Johnson; Mr. Hume; Mr. Bennett; Mr. Western; Mr. Honeywood; Dr. Rigby; Mr. Owen; and other characters of political or agricultural celebrity, being present.

The grand object of this meeting is the promotion of agriculture; and with this subject is intimately blended the advance

ment of the moral and intellectual condition of the rural population. Upon the present occasion, when the complaints of universal distress have received, as it were, the reply of the parliament; and when that reply is generally considered so unsatisfactory; it could scarcely be possible for so large an assembly of the landed interest to avoid the discussion of that answer, its grounds, and its reasoning; and this would naturally lead to the introduction of general politics. Mr. Coke, therefore, took off the restriction he has hitherto rigidly imposed; and announced that, in consideration of the urgency and importance of the present crisis, it was not his intention to repress the consideration of these great questions. There was, consequently, much of a political character mixed with the customary inquiries concerning agricultural processes and improvements.

The first day's exhibition commenced with an inspection of the various processes of flax manufacture, established with a view to the employment of the parish poor (particularly the women and the children) at Holkham. The instruments and the artizans were placed upon the lawn; and the several operations were performed, with great facility, under the able direction of Mr. Herod, of Creake: the prize stallions were also shown: and the party proceeded over the different farms, discoursing on the appearance of the crops, the dairies, flocks, and lots of Devon cattle, &c. as they went.

After dinner, the Agricultural Report was much adverted to by the several speakers, and its principles were universally reprobated. The breed of Devon cattle was much extolled, and a good deal of interesting discussion respecting Merino sheep took place. By Mr. Coke, it was asserted, that their wool could not be sold, and their flesh could not be eaten. Mr. Bennett, on the contrary, said, that three Merinos could be fed where two Southdown sheep could be maintained; and that the fleeces of the former would sell for thrice the amount of the fleeces of the latter. The Merino, he contended, was, therefore, much the most profitable. At the sheep house, in the evening, some Southdowns were offered, but no sales effected.

The business of the second morning commenced, as that of the preceding, by viewing the manufacture of flax; after which, the prize sheep were examined; and it was admitted, that no former show had equalled that of the present year. The company rode over the park farm, and visited the village, where every one was exceedingly interested by the comfort, neatness, and order that reigned. A new school had been erected since the last year, thus proving Mr. Coke's attention to the moral and intellectual advancement of his depend