the United Kingdom has practically afcertained the power to grow at home two-thirds of the grain which fhe used to im port from abroad. But it muft, he adds, be moft vexatious to her adverfaries, who make it a point to fell as much and buy as little as poffible; fince it fhows that her purchases from foreign countries have diminished, while her fales to them have increafed. It cannot therefore, he obferves, be matter of furprise that neither her exterior commerce nor her public credit has fuftained any fhock from the blow which France aimed against her. The report of Bonaparte's Minifter of Finances (Gaudin) is then contrafted with the authentic documents by which the foregoing statement is fupported; the futile predictions in that report are expofed by a comparative view of the income of Great Britain, in the years 1806 and 1808; the first of which was anterior to the blockade, and the laft the year in which it had its full effect: notwithstanding which circumftance an increase in the net income of the country took place from 56,902,0991. to 60,354.7821.; and the intereft on the public loan had fallen from 41. 19s. and 7d. to 41. 14s. and 6d. per cent. This laft he juflly confiders as a ftriking circumftance; fince in all former wars the rate of intereft on the loans had gradually increased. If however the commerce of England had fomewhat decreafed, (which he thinks might have happened but for Bonaparte's invafion of Spain) ftill, in the author's opinion, a long time must have elapfed before the public credit and revenue of the country would have been fenfibly affected. Our limits will not per mit us to expatiate further on this part of the fubject; but we think the author has proved, by fome ftriking inftances, his pofition that "From her geographical pofition and the fuperiority of her navy, England must always have the means of opening to herself a new market almoft immediately after any old one is closed." The next important object of enquiry is, "what degree of inconvenience has been fuftained by England in confe quence of the fudden fhutting of the vaft markets of Europe?" Being without authentic documents, the author can fpeak only from conjecture and obfervation; as to the causes that have operated; but the certain fact is, as he ftates, that England has experienced no want of any fingle article, though her imports have decreased nearly one twelfth, and though the prices of certain articles of importation have confiderably rifen.' Several particulars however, tending to I BRIT. CRIT. VOL. XXXVI. AUGUST, 1819, account account for this circumftance, are noticed by the author; and particularly the diftillation of fugar, inftead of corn; by which the furplus quantity of the former was difpofed of, and a quantity of the latter referved for food, in lieu of the two or three millions of Cwts, which uled to be imported from the continent. The various fubftitutions for articles till lately imported from the continent of Europe are also enumerated and their utility difcuffed. Amongst other circumftances, we obferve with great fatisfaction how beneficial the interruption of European commerce has proved to the British colonies in America It would not be poffible, within our limits, to fpecify dif tinctly the refources, from various parts of the world, which, the author ftates, have fupplied in a great degree, the wants arifing from the flagnation of European trade: nor is it neceffary to follow him through his animated and interesting reprefentation of the increafing profperity of Britain; which, he obferves, will ftrike his Ruffian correfpondent whenever he shall revifit this country. Among these the great utility as well as fplendour, of the new docks, is clearly and ftrikingly displayed. The flock in hand contained in them, when the interruption of trade with Ruffia and with America took place, was, it appears, fufficient generally speak. ing to fupply the demand, until the refpective commodities formerly imported from thofe countries, could be obtained from other fources. Timber indeed, he admits, became fcarce, there not being accommodations for its reception; but one of the new works now in hand is, he tells us, directed to this particular object. On the abfurdity as well as iniquity, of the attempts against British commerce, we have the following juft remarks: "Unfortunately for mankind, a great and mighty perfonage has appeared upon the theatre of the world, fo infatuated by this exploded dream, as to be willing to facrifice to it, without the fmalleft fcruple, not only the welfare of his allies, but that of his own fubjects. In the wild fury of his hoftility to maritime commerce, he forgets, that if the people of this country are the greatest exporters, they are alfo the moft profufe confumers that ever exifted: he forgets, morcover, that their geographical pofi. tion, and preponderance of their naval power, infure them the means of opening markets for their furplus produce, in those parts of the new world which have made any advances in opulence and refinement, while Europe has been impoverished and depreffed by Leventeen years of war and revolution. Is it equally clear, that the continent will find markets for her furplus produce, after his foolish violence shall have given a new direction to the habits of England? England? This question muft, after all, decide to whom the new fyftem of warfare will be moft injurious; and, upon this point, I very much deceive myself, if upon winding up the account-not of profit, but of lofs-that is to fay, of comforts wantonly foregone, and of industry wilfully fuppreffed, it will not, after a peace, exhibit these results. 1ft, That Great Britain will remain nearly ftationary, or will have fuftained only what I will call a negative lofs in the interruption of her rapid advance in opulence; 2d, that Ireland will have made great progrefs in industry and in wealth; and 3d, that the nations, confederated against the commerce of these two iflands, will have been materially impoverished by the operation of their own measures. "Hitherto, I can affure you, the people of England have sustained much less inconvenience from them, than I could have expected. The crifis was neither long nor fevere, and it would be unjust not to add, that the energy of the national character was eminently difplayed in furmounting the obstacles which it had to encounter. At the fame time, how loud would have been the clamour, if her own minifters had either originated this wild interruption of commerce, or had hefitated to meet it with defiance, and boldly to turn against the enemy that weapon, by which alone he had fuppofed that England was vulnerable!" P. 55. In fumming up this part of the fubject the author clearly ftates what inconvenience to Britain has arifen from the continental blockade, how it has produced its own remedy, and what ill effects are likely to enfue, even after a peace, to the nations of the European continent. In the fecond part of this work a view is taken of the profperity of Ireland, from the period of the union and that of the continental blockade; from which view it appears, that the exports from that kingdom, of its produce and manufactures, had increafed confiderably more than three millions, in real value, from the year 1806 to 1808; an increase which being of more than one third, is, the author observes, unparalleled in the hiftory of commerce. It exceeds the progrefs of America, hitherto efteemed the most rapid, in wealth and industry; the amount of Irish commodi ies exported in 1808, being one fifth greater than that of the United States in 1806, the period of their greateft profperity. Her revenue alfo, he fhows, has nearly tripled fince the union; and this improvement arifes almoft exclufively out of the duties on confumption, which proves that the increafe in the comforts of the people has kept pace with that of the reve nue. It will fcarcely be believed (what nevertheless is here proved) that Ireland, lately fo poor and infignificant, now carries on a trade equal in extent and value to the whole of I 2 that that of France, under the ancient monarchy, and atthe most brilliant æra of her commerce. In this part of the work the author goes into a variety of interefting details, for which we must refer the reader to the work itself; noticing however that it appears "the amount of British manufactures taken by Ireland has increased fince the union from 2,087,672 to 4,500,000l." Nothing, the author remarks, can be a more certain proof of the opulence of a country, than a progreffive increase in the amount of her imports, and this increase not confined to articles of luxury, ufed by the rich; it has been ftill greater in the confumption of the inferior ranks. All thefe obfervations are illuftrated at large, and proved by authentic documents. "An increase in the imports of a nation proves;" fays the author, "an increase in her enjoyments, an increase in her exports proves an in crease in her induftry." He begins with the firft, and in order to fhow how Ireland has been affected by the union, and how by the blockade, has formed three columns, the first showing the average annual imports of the three years immediately preceding the union, the second the average annual imports of three years immediately preceding the Berlin Decree, and the third the imports of the year 1808, when the blockade was carried into complete effect. The articles are even claffed in order to fhow the progress of agriculture and other useful arts; and the increase both in the luxuries of the rich, and the comforts of the lower ranks of fociety. Some important obfervations are fubjoined, illuftrating the facts which have been proved; and amongft other circumftances, the author remarks how egregiouйly thofe perfons were deceived who oppofed the union from an apprehenfion that the removal of the legislature would reduce many of those who were engaged in the manufacture of articles of luxury, to idlenefs and beggary. The demand for feveral articles of that defcription has, he flates, in general been doubled fince the blockade, and tripled fince the union; and as to fome there has been even a tenfold increafe. Heinfers from thence, that for every wealthy family which has quitted Ireland, three or four of thofe which remain have afcended from the middling ranks to the higher, and at leaft nine or ten from the lower to the middling ranks. This great change, he obferves, has been effected within the laft ten years. The foregoing is but a faint outline of the able statement by which the wonderfully rapid increase in the industry and profperity of Ireland is proved. A diligent perufal of this fatement, and of the forcible and acute obfervations in terfperfed with it, will, if we mistake not, amply reward the attention attention which an intelligent reader may bestow. We were particularly ftruck with the author's remarks on the erroneous notions that have prevailed refpecting the balance of trade, and on the error of those continental ftatesmen who difcover in the increafed imports of their country nothing but caufes of alarm; and we congratulate the friends of both countries on the ample proofs here difplayed of the benefits refulting from the union of Ireland with Great Britain. The author has fubjoined fome obfervations on the wellknown work of Mr. Hauterive; a work, the nature and tendency of which was briefly pointed out by us foon after its appearance, and which was moft fully and ably answered by Mr. Gentz t. A few of the moft ftriking and mifchievous fallacies of the French writer are here expofed, and particu larly the inconfiftency of reprefenting, in one part of his work, the English as fo burthened by the weight of their debt, amount of their taxes, &c. that a continuance of the war muft involve the ruin of their finances, their credit and their commerce, and yet, in a fubfequent part, labouring to prove that "war is the only actual and the only poffible fupport of the commerce of Great Britain.” "The direct reverfe of this," fays the prefent author, "is the truth. The perfection to which all operations of labour have been brought in England is precifely the reafon that this country is the greateft lofer from every war which impoverishes her neighbours, and the greatest gainer from every circumftance which inriches them." Still however her loffes are (it is added) but of a negative defcription, while those of other nations are pofitive; and the perfectly new and unexampled ftate of things introduced by the blockade renders the prefent war an exception to the general rule. Ireland (he admits) is indebted to it for the doubling of her industry and her comforts. The Appendix contains fome obfervations on a late work of Mr, Newenham, called a View of the Natural and Com mercial Circumftances of Ireland, and that author is reprehended for fome exaggerations and mifrepresentation; upon which, not having the work before us, we will not take upon ourfelves to pronounce. "Every one of Mr. N.'s affertions of the impoverishment of his country, is accompanied," fays the prefent author, “by a ftriking and irrefiftible proof of her increafing wealth." * See Brit. Crit. vol. xviii. p. 95. |