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CONTENTS

POLITICAL EVENTS ...... 1. 49. 89. 137. 177. 225. 265. 313. 353, 401. 441. 489.

NEW PUBLICATIONS, BRITISH, WITH CRITICAL REMARKS, 25. 51. 93. 141. 181. 229.
269. 317. 357. 405. 445. 493.

THE

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

JANUARY 1, 1826.

HISTORICAL REGISTER.

POLITICAL EVENTS.

GREAT BRITAIN.

A ROYAL proclamation, dated the 20th of December, prorogues the Imperial Parliament from the 5th of the present month until the 2d of February, when it will meet for the transaction of public affairs.

A panic in the money-market, during the last month, has proved ruinous to the affairs of severa! respectable banking houses in London, extended itself into the country, and spread consternation among all classes of the community. In London, however, several houses which stopped payment have re-opened, the closing their doors for a few days being absolutely necessary, from the impossibility of turning their securities to account at once, to meet the pressing demands of creditors. In the country the scene has been very different. There a few hundred pounds and a copper-plate are often all that is necessary for establishing a bank, and ingrossing on easy terms the circulating medium of a district. Bank after bank has failed. Those which were really respectable have stood what they call the run, others have resumed payment, but many have failed only to lay open their own rottenness and the losses of their unwary creditors. Had the Bank of England alone been allowed to issue small notes, which might have been withdrawn as circumstances admitted, Mr.Peel's wholesome bill would have been rendered far more effective, and most of this evil been avoided. Those country banks which restricted their issues to notes of five pounds, have rode out the storm best. In the west of England, the whole circulation of the country was ingrossed by the small notes of private individuals to the exclusion of gold, and the misery of the poorer classes in particular. Three or four one-pound notes constitute the saving of a year's labour among the lower classes, who thus lose their all. They have frequently been reduced to despair, in some cases have attempted suicide, and in others threatened the lives of the men by whom they Jan, 1826.-VOL. XVII. NO. LXI.

have been thus duped. It was an unwholesome, unsound state of things, evidently not called for by want of bullion or credit, or any other cause, but from individuals being allowed to speculate too largely on the labour and industry of others. Onepound country notes, though really issued upon the credit of the parties, are not so considered by the poor; they being in some parts, in the west for example, the only circulating medium, the labourer or mechanic was compelled to take them or go without his food. In Lancashire, where no such evil prevailed as these small issues from the country banks, there has been no suffering. It would be well if the transactions of some of these concerns, which endanger the country, were laid open by their creditors: the capital which they possessed on starting, and their subsequent transactions, exposed to view, some of them would afford a useful lesson to the public. That the evil would happen some time or another, no one doubted; that it did not happen from pressure of any kind on the body of the community is clear. Commerce is flourishing, trade is active, the revenue increasing, confidence in the Government undiminished, the credit of the Bank unshaken, and even the London bankers, who have been embarrassed, with scarce an exception, were so confident in the flourishing state of things, that they invested in securities perhaps greater sums than they had ever invested before, the difficulty of turning which on the pressure of the moment caused their embarrassment. The Bank of England has given rational and efficient assistance wherever it was practicable. Gold has been sent off to the country in every direction. Ministers have also come forward to lend aid to the public; and the precious metal being under the Mint price, enabled every press to be set at work. Gold has been coined at the rate of 100,000 sovereigns a day. The evil began from no cause but panic,

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occasioned by the depression of the funds, from the sums sold out to meet the demands of joint-stock companies, joined to the want of confidence from the display of the numerous bubbles in which losses were encountered. Thus the mischief be gan in London, where it seemed rapidly to subside, on the temporary nature of the cause and the display of the resources possessed, and the means of support offered, being made known. In the country the case was very different: the distress of the industrious and poor enormous, and the evil not yet calculable. There is an imperious call (from this useful lesson) upon Government to relieve the industrious and poorer classes of the people from the nuisance of country bank-notes under five pounds at least. If they do not, how is there to be restored to the nation a sound and healthy circulation! The issue of country paper is thought to be not less than 18,000,000, and the failure of so many country banks must diminish the circulating medium at once, faster than the Mint can supply gold for a long time, though it may issue 100,000 per day on an average. To meet this, the Bank has opportunely re-issued small notes in the country. Where the confidence in a bank has been great, the inhabitants in its vicinity have come forward to express their reliance upon its stability in some places with considerable benefit: but after all, the recurrence of such an evil must be guarded against by legislative enactments. Industry deprived of reward from ill-placed confidence, is one of the bitterest of mortal trials. It is a question for political economists, whether in a great and flourishing country, private individuals should have a right to interfere with the circulating mediumtaking away the wholesome coin, and replacing it with that of only a nominal value. This is a very different question from the right of passing bills of simple credit.

Mr. Clement, the proprietor of the Morning Chronicle newspaper, has been cast in 4501. damages for a libel on Senor Yrisarri, the agent of the Chilean republic in London.

The Enterprize steam-vessel, the first that has navigated as far as the Cape of Good Hope, arrived there, under a salute

from the forts, in fifty-seven days from England, all the passengers well. This was twenty days more than had been calculated upon, but the necessity of economizing fuel was the cause. Steam was used thirty-five days only. No fresh breeze during the passage was in the ship's favour. Thus has a new triumph of science been achieved, worthy of lasting record.

The New Irish Catholic Association held its first meeting last month. Strongly as we advocate the justice of the Catholic cause, we are sorry to see the mode of reasoning adopted by Mr. O'Connell, and the plaudits bestowed on a wretched Bourbon fanatical newspaper, the Etoile, as well as the attack on the King of the Netherlands, as if merely from spleen. Nothing can be more imprudent than the course pursued by the Catholic leader, except it be the resistance made to emancipation by zealots who are ignorant of the march of the human mind, and wrapped up in the robes of their own selfinterest and bigotry.

At a General Court of Proprietors held last month, a dividend of 54 per cent. was declared on the capital stock, for the half year commencing July 5th last, and ending 5th of January next. The resolution of the last Court, granting to Mr. S. Arnot 15001. in consequence of the loss sustained by that gentleman by the burning of the ship Fame, was confirmed. Hume's motion to recall Lord Amherst was negatived without a division.

Mr.

A meeting of the friends and members of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery was held lately at the Freemasons' Hall, William Wilberforce, Esq. in the Chair. Sir James Mackintosh made a most brilliant speech, followed by Mr. F. Buxton, Mr. Denman, Dr. Lushington, Messrs. J. J. Gurney, Chambers, Cropper, and Favell. Petitions were agreed to be presented_to_both Houses of Parliament; that to the Lords by the Duke of Gloucester, and that to the Commons by Mr. Buxton.

A very important Order in Council, particularly as it respects Ireland, has been agreed to by the King in Council; it is a regulation for the coinage of Ireland, to assimilate it to that of Engind.

THE COLONIES.

LATE accounts from India announce the capture of the town and citadel of Munipore, the capital of the province of Cassay. The troops at Prome were very unhealthy, the rainy season having set in. The negotiations for peace had ended in smoke, and another campaign'seemed ine

vitable. Lord Amherst and his council will thus have more expenses to meet, and fresh obstacles to overcome. Their profound display of the science of politics, in getting up which they have put their masters to such an enormous expense, has swallowed up the flourishing revenue left

conduct of Lieutenant Keele, and also of acting Lieutenants Hall and Goldfinch, Mr. W. Watt, surgeon, and Mr. Robert Atherton, acting purser, with the assistance he received from Lieutenant Dobson and Mr. George Winsor, Admiralty mid. shipman, as well as of the other officers employed. I likewise transmit dispatches from Captain Marryat, of his Majesty's sloop Larne, detailing various successful operations against the enemy at Negrais and at Bassein, and speaking in the highest praise of Lieutenant Fraser, Mr. Hodder, the master, Mr. Robert Atherton, acting purser, and Messrs. Downes and Norcock, midshipmen. The various successes that have attended the exertions of every officer, seaman, and marine, that have been employed on this service, merit the highest encomiums, and must be attributed to the discipline and well-laid plans of the officers conducting them, and the zeal, prompti

in their hands by the care and wise nursing of the Marquis of Hastings: for the conduct of the worshipful Company towards whom, touched as they are in the only place in which they can be affected, their treasury, they ought now to feel something like self-abasement. There is no truth in the Siamese having joined the Burmese. The latter were not known to be in force at any point; but this is precisely the thing to be feared, as, if they could be attacked in large bodies, a procrastination of the war would be less probable. Sir David Ochterlony died at Meerat on the 14th of July, after a most active service of forty-seven years. Money was as scarce in India as it has been in England, and was borrowed at from eight tude, and perseverance with which they were to twelve per cent. interest.

The London Gazette of December 12th contained the following dispatch from Captain Coe, of the Liffey, addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and dated at sea the 17th June, 1825. The following is an extract:

"I have the honour of inclosing, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, various dispatches from Captain Alexander, of his Majesty's ship Alligator, in command of the naval forces co-operating with the army under Brigadier-General Sir Archibald Campbell, in their advance against Ava, the capital of the Burmese dominions; to whom I am particularly indebted for the very able and gallant manner in which he has conducted, and is still conducting, this difficult and extremely harassing service. This officer is too well known to their Lordships to need any comment of mine on his worth and ability; he speaks in the high. est terms of Captain Chads, of his Majesty's sloop Arachne, and particularly of Mr. William Smith, his own first lieutenant; they are officers who Lave distinguished themselves on all occasions; and the highest encomiums are passed by Captain Alexander on the conduct of all the officers of the squadron, as well as of the seamen and marines. Mr. James Wilkinson, senior lieutenant of his Majesty's ship under my command, latterly in command of the light division of boats, has been spoken of in the highest terms by Captain Alexander, as well as those serving under him. I have known this officer since 1821, and while serving with me in his Majesty's ship Tees, and since in the Liffey, I have had frequent opportunities of observing his zeal and abilities: he was severely wounded last year at the first attack of the stockades. Mr. George Winsor, late Admiralty midshipman of his Majesty's sloop Sophie, now of his Majesty's ship Alligator, has been again spoken of in a handsome way by Captain Alexander, for the very judicious manner in which he has conducted the steam-boat under his charge. I have also the honour to inclose dispatches from Captain Chads, and one through Captain Alexander, detailing various operations against the enemy, which reflect the greatest credit upon that officer, and all employed under him. He speaks in the strongest terms of the

carried into effect: and where so many have rendered themselves conspicuous, I feel it difficult to do justice to their individual merit."

N. B. The affairs in which his Majesty's vessels and their boats were engaged, in co-operation with the land forces, as mentioned in the despatches transmitted with the preceding letter from Captain Coe, took place between 11th January and 29th April 1825; and the total loss sustained by his Majesty's vessels on these occasions amounted to five killed and fifteen wounded.

The accounts from our settlements in North America mention, that during the late fires in the woods, not only has the whole surface of the earth been burnt up, but in many cases the earth has been burnt to the depth of two and four feet. It recommends this fact to the consideration of the men of science in England.

The London Gazette contains a despatch from Major-general Sir H. Douglas, Governor of New Brunswick, respecting the late calamity there, of which the following are extracts :—

"For some days previous to the 7th instant the temperature of the air and the state of the atmosphere, much charged with smoke, indicated that fires of vast extent were raging in the woods: but no previous apprehension seems to have been entertained from the prevalence of conflagrations, which are so commonly put in action to com mence clearances in the wilderness. On the day I have named, however, at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, an alarm was conveyed to the town, that the residence of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, about a mile and a half distant, was on fire. The garrison, and the greater part of the population, ran immediately thither, and succeeded in saving Mr. Baillie's house from the flames, which were running through the adjoining woods with tremendous fury. Whilst there, accounts were brought to me that the town was on fire; and before I could reach it, though mounted on a fleet horse, whole streets were in a destructive blaze.

"As evening advanced, the woods, which had

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