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hands of the Constitutional administration. His favourites, the Archbishop of Saragossa, and the Bishops of Malaga and Ceuta, are sentenced to banishment; the Duke del Infantado is exiled to the Canaries, and other powerful Grandees to Ibiza and Seville. In addition to this, the General Don Francisco Laviec Elio, the persecuting Ultra Champion of Valencia, has suffered death by the garotte. This is the second trial and condemnation of Elio; but on the first occasion the congenial spirit of the then predominant authority saved him. On the 28th of August the new administration presented a written demand to the King for the convocation of the Extraordinary Cortes, as the only means of giving confidence to the nation amid surrounding disorders. The demand has been of course complied with, and the Cortes stand convoked for the 25th of Sept. Not in Madrid alone, however, does the Constitutional spirit seem to be triumphant. Espinosa and Mina, with large bodies of regular troops, are advancing into the disturbed districts. The Trappist, in an attempt to join Quesada, has been overtaken, routed, and obliged to fly, with the loss of all his baggage, artillery, and ammunition. Quesada himself, with the army of the faith, has been completely defeated near Jaca.

In Portugal, on the 26th of August, the King laid before the Cortes two letters, which he had received from the Prince Regent of the Brazils, by which it appears, that the King, anticipating, no doubt, the ordeal he was to undergo in Portugal, advised the Prince to shift for himself in his American dominions. Accordingly the Prince now dutifully announces the approaching separation of the Brazils from the mother country; and declares his intention of following the paternal advice. The passage is really curious-" Under these circumstances," says he, "recollecting what your Majesty said to me in Rio, that in case of a separation it would be better that I should be with that kingdom, rather than an adventurer, I have adhered to what the inhabitants of Brazil wished, the greater part of the provinces having already recognized me as their perpetual defender, and having made manifest their desire to proclaim your Majesty

Emperor of the United Kingdom and me King of Brazil." Such is the pith of the letter. Under these circumstances the Portuguese Cortes have issued an address to the people of the Brazils, offering them a full participation in the advantages of their newly acquired constitutional sys tem, the residence of a local regal authority in their country, and those numerous blessings which must result from the union of the countries.

From France the intelligence is of such a nature as, from recent events, might have been expected-the development of fresh plots against the existing government, counteracted by such practices on their part, that it would be more than wonderful if such plots did not exist. Of this the trial of Berton and his associates at Poitiers presents a memorable instance. We might say the mock trial, for certainly a greater mockery was never exhibited in any Court of Justice; at least, according to our antiquated English notions of jurisprudence. When Berton was put upon his trial, and on a charge solemnly affecting his life, he naturally selected an advocate in whom he placed confidence, to defend him. But not only was this just request refused, but a young advocate, who never held a brief before, and who loudly protested his incompetence to the task, was forced upon the accused, in defiance of his vehement remonstrances ! The progress of this proceeding was worthy its commencement. The Advocate-general seems to have acted all through with sufficient zeal. His struggle was two-fold; first, to convict the accused, and next, if possible, to implicate some of the leading Liberals in their alleged treason. For this latter purpose every mention of the names La Fayette, B. Constant, General Foy, Manuel, Lafitte, and Voyer d'Augenson, made by the conspirators, in the absence of the parties thus sought to be involved, was studiously elicited, and sedulously dwelt on. Upon these persons, it was said, the conspirators had fixed as a provisional government, in case of success; and the casual acquaintance which, from his rank in life, General Berton might very innocently have had with them, was assigned as strongly suspicious. The conclusions of the Advocate-ge

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neral, drawn from such premises, are admirable,—“ Moral proofs,' said he," abound in the cause, but the material proofs are wanting!" -The Court then called upon M. Drault, the young Advocate to whom we have alluded, to proceed with the defence of Berton. M. Drault declined the office, inasmuch as he had not only not been selected, but rejected by the accused. This raised the wrath of the Advocate-general, who foresaw that the whole proceedings against Berton must become nullified by the French law, if it should appear upon the record that he was not defended by Counsel. In this dilemma the President interfered, and called on the Advocate to proceed. M. Drault's reply does him honour: "I declare from my soul," said he, "that I would rather be sacrificed myself, than sacrifice the interest of the accused-in fact, I am not prepared for his defence under such circumstances!"-The Court was then adjourned for three quarters of an hour, in order that the elder members of the bar might advise their colleague. But M. Drault would not learn, even from the more experienced, that the best way to rise in his profession was to sacrifice his principles, and he deliberately refused. The consequence was, that he was afterwards struck off the list of Advocates, for not doing that which, if he had condescended to do, he ought to have been proscribed from the society of every man of conscience. Berton indignantly declaimed upon the injustice with which he was treated. The result was a conviction; but Berton has appealed to the Court of Cassation, on the ground of informality; and there seems to be little doubt that he must have a new trial. The editors of the Constitutionnel, the Courier Français, the Journal du Commerce, and the Pilote, all Liberal papers, were summoned before the Court of Assize at Paris, and charged with untrue reports of the proceedings in the case of the Rochelle conspiracy. The Editors offered to prove, by credible witnesses upon oath, the truth of their reports; but this was refused, on the ground that the accusation of the Attorney-general was quite sufficient proof of their culpability.

They were then sentenced to imprisonment for various periods, from a year downwards,-to very considerable fines, and to exclusion from the publication of any judicial proceeding whatever for a certain term. In such a state of the French press the only wonder is, how it gives us even the feeble glimmering by which we can discern the surface of the country.

Our domestic intelligence this month is of very little interest. The principal topic is the change which has taken place in the ministry, in consequence of the death of Lord Londonderry. His place has been supplied by Mr. Canning, who, of course, relinquishes the government of India. It would be useless here to recount all the flying rumours which preceded this event, the principal of which were the obstacles which rendered it unlikely. A double antipathy, on the part of the Lord Chancellor and a higher personage, was assigned as insurmountable. However, if such really existed, it has been overcome. One of the great sources of discontent, on the part of the Chancellor, was said to be Mr. Canning's adherence to the Roman Catholic question; how this has been got rid of, the next session will show. The other was some verbal skirmishing about the New Marriage Act, and in this we are bound to say the Chancellor seems to have been right in his doubts. From all parts of the country there is an universal outcry against its continuance; and Scotland and Ireland are become the scenes of many an unlooked-for honeymoon in consequence. In one week there landed in Dublin no less than twenty-three pair of candidates for wedlock, who preferred even the love-repelling sympathy of seasickness, to the "standing rubric " upon a church-door, and swearing themselves by wholesale out of their

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MONTHLY REGISTER, OCTOBER 1, 1822.

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

THERE is something like a pause in the state of landed property and of farming produce which indicates an uncertainty a suspension, as it were, between hopes and fears. The undecided question, as to the true relation of domestic growth to demand -the impossibility of ascertaining, even with an approach to truth, whether the vast importations of the years 1817-1818 have yet ceased to affect the market - the abundance of four successive harvests and, finally, the early period at which this last year's crop has been brought into consumption-all these circumstances render the possible advance or depression in wheat a matter of the greatest doubt, while there is a struggle between necessity and hope, that in some instances forces the production of the farm to sale, and in others produces a desire to withhold as long as possible. There never was a time perhaps when opinion was so completely unsettled and unformed. We know merchants in the out-ports who are at this moment actually speculating in wheat on the following principle. The capital set loose by the depression of the general price of commodities wants employment, and the choice of the capitalist falls upon wheat this year; first, on account of the excellence of the quality; and secondly, from a belief that things can go no lower; therefore if a profit be not realised, no loss is likely to be incurred; while the mere act of buying for speculation will, probably, by withholding a considerable quantity from the central market (the metropolis), raise the price. This mode of reasoning will consequently affect both the supply and the price for a time at least -perhaps till Christmas, and thus add pro tempore to the uncertainty as to final and general results. Wheat is now reduced se nearly to the continental level, that it cannot go much lower in any event; and with respect to quality, the following facts may be relied on. Eight bushels (or one quarter) were last year required to manufacture a sack of flour, six bushels and a half of the present year's produce will yield a sack, and the flour will absorb more water, and consequently give a heavier weight of bread. These facts are immensely important; for so soon as they are univer sally known, the effect will be to create a distaste for the old stock, and a great difference between the value of the old and

new.

The hopes of the farmer are placed on VOL. VI.-Mon. Reg.

the increased consumption which a low price of subsistence and active employment of the manufacturing population occasions, which will ultimately tend to raise the price. He has now the complete monopoly of the home market, and now or never will the effects of the depression in driving poor soils out of cultivation be seen. Certain it is, that the provincial newspapers were never so full of advertisements for the disposal of farms and farming property as at present. In one of the Norfolk papers (the Norwich Mercury) there were, during each of the three last weeks, not less than 150 of this nature this too, in one of the most opulent agricultural districts! The excess above common years in the ordinary course of time may be taken at one-third of the whole number.

The writer of this article has known, at no remote period, no less than fifty-four applications made for one farm of no peculiar excellence within four days after it was announced to be vacant. Now the columns of the newspapers are occupied by "farms to let." The consequence, not the least destructive, is the enormous depression which attends the sale of stock; for although where one man goes out another comes in, generally speaking, yet no one cares to buy, because every one knows if he be not supplied to-day at one sale, he can be to-morrow at another. This augments the tenant's loss in a way neither felt nor computed by the landlord.

All these facts demonstrate how momentous will be the transactions of this year upon the general bearing of the agricultural question, at the sam etime, proving that the grand changes wrought by diminished price are now only beginning to operate upon an extended scale. From this we infer that speculation will be briskly at work, and some considerable fluctuations are probable during the coming year; but until the next harvest, at the very soonest, the final consequences cannot completely develope themselves.

Great exertions are every where making to increase the consumption of barley, by the sale of malt at a low rate, and by the introduction of domestic brewing among the agricultural labourers, as well as by the farmers making allowances of beer in part payment of labour. These endeavours, together with the deficiency of the crop, its mixed growth and inferior quality, on the whole, will probably give it an indefinitely

d

50

Commercial Report.

high value if not counteracted by the
of the brewer's druggist,
"chemic arts
who can and does, unquestionably, extract
a copious proportion of the public beverage
from other and cheaper articles than malt
and hops. But in spite of these mixtures,
happy is the farmer who holds any quan-
tity of barley.

The harvest, it is now admitted, has been as generally well got up as was ever known, and the state of the crop is understood to be as we have related in our late reports. The weather during the month has been uncommonly dry-scarcely any showers having fallen. The consequence is, that the turnips, which were before an exceedingly partial, not to say a failing crop altogether, wear now a much worse

so that when the rains fall it is probable
appearance, having got hard and sticky,
they will not take their after-growth by
any means so well as usual. The supply
of winter food will therefore be scanty.
The same cause has impeded the progress
towards wheat sowing, which is, however,
in some places not only done, but we have
seen some wheats already considerably
above the ground. This breadth, however,
Mark Lane has
is very small indeed.
been rather scantily supplied, and has ex-
hibited a rise, and the meat markets the
same. The principal marts have been
abundantly supplied during the same pe-
riod. The average of wheat for the week
ending September 7, was as low as 38s. 8d.
Sept. 21.

COMMERCIAL REPORT.
(London, September 21.)

HAVING no introductory remarks of any
importance to make this month, we pro-
ceed to the usual particulars of our Report.
Cotton. If the market has been on the
whole in a depressed state throughout the
month, it cannot excite any surprise, as the
prices have naturally been kept down by
the announcement of a great sale at the
India House on Friday the 27th of this
month, and by very extensive public sales at
Liverpool. The low taxed price too of the
cotton intended for sale, naturally depressed
the market. The sales in London in the
four weeks ending the 17th, have been about
5300 bags. Though the accounts from
Liverpool had become rather more favour-
able, the market here was not much affect
ed by them; the holders asked higher
prices, but there were no sales at any im-
provement. The India Company altered
The
the taxed price from 5d. to 54d.
prices in the fortnight ending the 17th
were, Pernams, 94d., ordinary, up to 10d.
for good fair; Paraibas middling 9d.;
Orleans, 7d.; 8d. ordinary; and 8d.
good fair; Boweds, 7d. to 78d., middling
fair to good fair, 6d. to 6d.; ordinary
Surats, good 6d.; ditto, ordinary to good
fair 54d. to 6d.; Madras, fair 6d.; Ben-
gals, fair 5d. to 5d.; good fair 5d.

At Liverpool, the sales in the four weeks
ending September 14th, were 45,130 bags,
the arrivals 38,430 bags: the report of
that day (14th) was however more favour-
able, the market appearing more steady,
though without any remarkable change in
the prices. Yesterday the market prices
were nearly nominal on account of the India
The Company have
sale next week.
altered the taxed price from 5d. to 5d.
The accounts from Liverpool are more
favourable than for some time past: the
Boweds lately sold by public auction were

at an advance of d. to d. per lb. The
purchases for several days had averaged
nearly 2000 bags.

Sugar. For a week or ten days subse-
for Muscovades continued steady, and prices
quent to our preceding report, the demand
were improved a little; but the holders
beginning to ask an advance, the market
became languid, and continued heavy,
though without any reduction being sub-
mitted to. Towards the close of the second
week of this month the demand for Mus-
covades considerably revived, the prices
were a shade higher, and the market very
firm, with every appearance of further im
provement. On Tuesday last (the 17th)
the general demand for Muscovades still
continued; the purchases at the close of
the day exceeded 1500 casks; the prices
6d. to Is. higher than on the Tuesday pre-
ceding, the market exceedingly firm. A
well.
sale of 111 hogsheads of Barbadoes sold

The quantity of refined offered for sale has been inconsiderable, but sufficient for the demand, excepting low lumps, which have been scarce, so that last week 768. was readily obtained for the few parcels offered; fair small lumps and grocery were in good supply and in proportion lower. Molasses were brisk at 28s., and on the 17th 29s. were obtained. At the begining of this month there was a brisk demand for white Havannah sugars, the prices advanced 2s. to 3s. per cwt.

The prices of Brazil Sugars advanced considerably early in last week, but, in consequence of the quantity brought forward, the market again gave way to the previous currency: above 400 chests were brought to public sale-White, fine realized 38s.; ordinary to good 28s. to 35s.; yellow 25s.; brown 19s.

The demand for Muscovades has continued very considerable during this week, and an advance of 6d. to Is. per cwt. must be quoted since last Friday in the purchases by private contract. The public sale yesterday consisted of 701 hhds. 5 tierces 43 barrels St. Lucia and Demerara Sugars, generally of a very good quality; the whole went off freely at prices higher than could be obtained by private contract: the market exceedingly firm; dry brown 51s. to 53s. 6d. the greater proportion 548. to 60s.; a few lots with much colour 68s. 6d. to 69s. 6d.

In the Refined market the purchases are still confined to low lumps, to Bastards, and Molasses; the latter have advanced to 30s.

The request for white Havannah Sugars continues considerable; several parcels are reported to be disposed of by private contract. Yellow and brown descriptions are in plentiful supply, and rate low in proportion. No public sales of Foreign Sugars have been brought forward this week. Average prices of raw sugars from Ga

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Coffee. The importers had been so eager to sell, in order to realize the good prices for some weeks previous to the commencement of this month, that all their cargoes were brought forward as soon as they were landed; so that the public sales being very extensive, the market began to be but sparingly supplied with good and fine descriptions. In the last week of August, though 570 casks, and 800 bags were brought forward, almost the whole was unclean, ordinary, or damaged, so that it sold heavily at a reduction of 2s. to 3s. per cwt. that is, the inferior or rank Coffee. Good parcels fetched high prices, and middling and finer qualities were much sought after. The sales on the 3d were 247 casks, and 361 bags; the latter all Brazil. There was no general alteration in the prices; but some descriptions were a shade lower. In the course of the following week the sales were 1077 casks, and 559 bags; the whole of the British plantation sold with brisk ness, fully supporting the previous prices. The St. Domingo were taken in, ordinary in casks at 104s.; good and fine ordinary, in bags, at 110s. A public sale of 192 casks of British plantation on the 10th went off with much briskness. 32 casks of fine ordinary Jamaica sold at 114s. to 115s. which was rather higher than the preceding week; the remainder of the sale without variation--good ordinary Jamaica 109s.; ordinary dingy 101s. 6d.; low middling Demerara 125s. to 127s. The sales in the remainder of the week were

873 casks and 591 bags, which all sold heavily at a reduction of 2s. to 38. On Tuesday last (17th) there were three public sales of 353 casks and 212 bags; all the ordinary sold heavily at a reduction of 28. to 3s. since the preceding Tuesday; Demerara and Berbice 3s. to 4s. lower. Good ordinary valued at 110s. to 1128. sold at 106s. to 108s.; fine ordinary, valued at 116s. sold at 110s.; good ordinary mixed Jamaica went also exceedingly low. A few lots of ordinary to good ordinary St. Domingo 100s. 6d. to 102s.; good ordinary Brazil 103s. Only 40 casks of ordinary middling coloury but foxy Jamaica supported the previous prices, selling for 122s. to 124s. 6d. Coloury descriptions were still in demand, and maintained their prices. We add the report of yesterday's market:-The public sales early in the week went off very heavily, the ordinary descriptions of Jamaica at a very considerable reduction, the Demerara and Berbice at a decline of 3s. to 4s. per cwt. There were two public sales this forenoon, consisting of 196 casks and 27 bags, a great proportion middling and good middling Jamaica, which participated in the late general depreciation in the prices, the whole of the fine selling 28. to 48. per cwt. lower, good and fine middling Jamaica 1398. to 1438. Gd.; middling St. Lucia 124s. Gd.; the ordinary descriptions of coffee sold rather higher today.

Hemp, Flax, and Tallow.-The tallow market has presented some interest during the course of this month. The prices having been for some time low, the trade was induced, towards the beginning of this month, to commence laying in their stock, by which an advance of 3 to 4s. the cwt. was effected. The great speculators, too, it was reported had made large purchases at St. Petersburgh, to prevent a sufficient supply from reaching the houses in London who have sold largely for arrival; the unfavourable accounts of the fisheries likewise tended to raise the price of tallow. 41s. was obtained for parcels of yellow candle here, and for arrival 41s. 6d. and 42s. The demand afterwards became more languid, and, on the 7th, yellow candle here had declined to 39s. ; but, in the beginning of the next week, the sellers on specu lation and the trade were alarmed by the accounts from St. Petersburgh, confirming the previous statements, that the great speculators, who have so long swayed this market, had purchased to a great amount at St. Petersburgh (10,000 casks), and that the prices there had risen from 97 rubles to 100 and 102 rubles. The market here immediately became brisk, but very few sellers appeared, and the nearest price of yellow candle tallow was 40s. 6d. It is certainly a critical moment in the tallow-market. It is well known, that certain great

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