(From the Etoile dated Saturday, August 6.) "It seems certain that the Central Committee of Inquiry into Revolutionary Intrigues is going to suspend its sittings, and even that all the members are preparing to quit this city. Is the Committee dissolved? This is generally reported, but is not certain. The Committee was instituted by the Congress at Carlsbad, and all the measures taken by that Congress having been calculated only for a temporary duration of five years, it is possible that the Sovereign may have resolved to let them fall into oblivion. "It is affirmed that Messrs. Hoffman and Ruhl are going to be set at liberty." "Paris, August 5. "We yesterday gave important and authentic details relative to the Marla, and the operations of Ibrahim Pacha. The following are equally authentic accounts of the situation of the Greek and Turkish Fleets. (These accounts are dated Milo, and commence the 1st of June): "Zante. "It states the Egyptian army to be everywhere victorious, and in every respect superior to the Greeks. The account does not come down to the taking of Tripolizza, the relater having left Modon the 19th. It was reported on the 18th, that Colocotroni had been totally defeated, but no confirma tion had reached Modon when he left. "Milo, June 16. "The French frigate La Cyrene has just arrived in this port. The Captain states, that Ibrahim Pacha must be within a short distance of Tripolizza, and that the Egyptians have hitherto met with no resistance from the Greeks. ships of war is exactly what the Greeks want. Bad mariners Major Colby, Director of the Ordnance Survey, left the Tower last month, for the inspection of his numerous party that are employed on the survey of Ireland. His operations at present are confined to the north part of that country, and the following places are the head-quarters of his different detachments, each under the command of a Captain of Engi neers-viz. Antrim, Coleraine, Londonderry, Dungarvon, and two other places. An officer with some sappers and miners, are proceeding to the Isle of Man, and another to the western part of Scotland also, with a detachment of sappers or artillery men, to act with those in Ireland in making observations, taking points, &c. In a recent examination at the Mansion-house, London, some startling facts were disclosed, which come home to the business and bosoms of ordinary men more than a whole Transatlantic revolution. It was there stated, on excellent authority, that stuff is brought into the market under the name of flour-and no doubt is sold and eaten in large quantities-one-third of which consists of ground bones and plaster "A Greek vessel returning from the Coast of Candia of Paris. We are not remarkably squeamish, and fully relates, that on the 12th, 13th, and 14th, the Greeks had an believe that people live quite as long here as in other counaction with the two combined fleets between Suda and Ret-tries, but we must say that this is an alarming fact. The tino, but that they lost four fireships, one of which, with its whole crew, was taken by the Turks. "June 19. "June 20. luxurious who poison themselves with confectionery, wines, and manufactured sauces, may be left to their fate with "The Turkish fleet, after the late affair, has entered Suda. ties," without depriving themselves of nourishing and sublittle pity. They can give up the use of the " deceitful dain"The pirates swarm in these seas. There is now no safety stantial fare. But when deleterious ingredients are mixed at a stone's throw from a port. It is feared that many tragi- with bread-the staff of life-the danger is brought to every cal scenes have been repeated, for dead bodies in European man's door. Whether either of the substances used for costume have been met with in different parts of the sea. adulteration is absolutely poisonous we cannot tell, but they "Puris, August 5. are obviously such as no human being would voluntarily "After sixty days of uninterrupted drought, and an ex-swallow. Gypsum, at the best, would probably have the traordinary heat for our climate, we had a gentle rain yes- same effects in the stomach as common clay; and the other terday noon, which cooled the earth. Rain fell in abundance ingredient-composed of the putrid skeletons of dogs and during the whole night." horses-is bad enough in itself, but calls up suspicions too horrible to dwell upon. How free these traders in iniquity make with human life, is obvious from another fact mentioned, FRENCH FUNDS. PARIS, AUGUST 5.-Five per Cents. opened at 102f. 65c.; closed at 102f. 40c.; Three per Cents. 75. 700.; Bauk Stock, 2190f.; Rente de Naples (Certif. Falconnet), 89f. 70c. Royal Spanish Loan, 1823, 522; Exchange on London, one month, 25f; Three ditto, 24f. 85c. Cours Authentique. It is stated in a letter from Rio Janeiro, that Lord Cochrane intends to quit the Brazilian service. As it is possible that the Peranga, 60 gun ship, which he brought to this country, may be his own property, we cannot help thinking that if means could be found to transfer this vessel with her welltrained crew to the service of the Greeks, the acquisition would be of inestimable benefit to that people in their arduous struggle. We are not anxious that Lord Cochrane should himself accompany the ship, because, after ten years' toil in promoting what we must look upon as the cause of mankind, we think he has done enough, and must stand in need of repose; and there are beyond a doubt hundreds of generous spirits among our retired naval officers who would volunteer with alacrity in such a cause... One or two heavy that one fourth part of what is sometimes sold under the name of tea consists of oxide of lead, a substance, the use of which terminates as certainly we believe in palsy, as that of opium does in sleep. The evil is one for which we fear there can be no remedy but rigorous police and heavy penal infliction.-Scotsman. Mr. Hayne attended at Tattersall's, on Monday last, and paid all his bets respecting the late battle between Cannon and Ward; but publicly declared at the same time that he had taken his leave of the P. R. for ever. Yesterday morning, between five and six o'clock, as a party of young men were rowing up the River in a four-oared galley, from want of skill the boat came in contact with one of the piers of Battersea-bridge. The shock occasioned by the concussion threw a young man overboard, who was foolishly sitting on the edge of the bow of the boat. He disappeared, but immediately rose. His companions were so appalled, that they were unable to afford him assistance, and he again went down, but shortly afterwards re-appeared. Fortunately, at this juncture, a six-oared wherry coming up, one of the MAGISTERIAL SYSTEM.-A comparison of the different effects of the Average of Commitments for Seven Years, ending 1823...... 13,240 8,863 of Convictions of Acquittals .. ...... of Persons, liberated by Grand Jury. of Persons executed thies, is the best; but after that, the sterling ore of wit or feeling is gradually spun thinner and thinner, till it fades to the shadow of a shade. and has been led into the natural and pardonable error we speak of, by Mr. Irving is himself, we believe, a most agreeable and deserving man, the tempting bait of European popularity, in which he thought there was no more likely method of succeeding than by imitating the style of our standard authors, and giving us credit for the virtues of our forefathers.— The Spirit of the Age. CITY, 12 O'CLOCK.-Consols for Account are 90 In the Foreign Market, Spanish Bonds are 21 22, and Greek Scrip is 15 dis. The Share Market is extremely dull. THE LONDON MARKETS. CORN EXCHANGE, MARK LANE, AUG. 8. The arrivals of grain last week were moderate, except in Irish Oats, which were abundant. This morning we have a short supply of most kind of grain; but of Irish Oats there still continue large arrivals. Prime Wheat obtains an advance of 1s. and 2s. per quarter; Barley remains stationary, and Beans fully support last week's quotations. Boiling and Grey Pease are each rather dearer, and Oats of good quality meet a tolerable free sale at an advance of 1s. per quarter. In Flour little is doing. CURRENT PRICES OF GRAIN. 2,539 Red Wheat.. 60s. 74s. “That is, the number of convictions is about two thirds of the Committals; Average of persons tried annually for Three years, ending 1823 .. 273 Sentenced to death 239 35 16 9 48s. 53s. 38s. 44s. 24s. 26s. 25s 36s. 24s. 29s. 30s. 33s. 55s. 65s. ... Grey Peas ...... Wheat per Quarter, 678. 10d.—Barley, 35s. 8d.—Oats, 25s. 8d.—Rye, 41s. 5d.-Beans, 41s. 3d.-Pease, 41s. 5d. SMITHFIELD, Aug 8 The price of Beef is not so good as on Friday last, Scots Runts not more than 4s. 8d. to 5s. per stone. Mutton maintains the improvement of Friday, the finest Downs, Wethers, &c. being at 5s. 2d. and 5s 4d. per stone. The best Calves continue at 5s 8d. to 6s. Lamb approaches to a close at 6s. and 6s 2d. for the best. In Pork, the price has uot varied. To sink the Offal—per Stone of 8lbs. 4s. 6d. to 5s. Od. Veal.......... 4s. 8d. to 5s. 4d. Pork.... That is, the acquittals are to the convictions, in Scotland, as 35 to 239, or as 1 to 7 yearly. Whereas, in England, the acquittals by the Grand or Petit Juries, are to the convictions as 4437 to 8,803, or as 1 to 2 nearly." LAW EXPENSES.-If it costs a man 100l. to prosecute a thief to conviction, it is vain to talk of diminishing crime. It is a fact, that the poor miller who prosecuted the notorious Probert for stealing his horse, at the cost of 100%, was obliged to sell the horse and a large part of his stock to pay some of the expenses, and is now soliciting a remuneration for the Mutton rest by subscription; from the county he received only 201.; thus it is that rogues escape.-Pottery Gazette. are concentrated all the Medicinal Properties of the Sarsaparilla Root, even to a perfect saturation of the Menstruam with which it is prepared. To such persons, therefore, who, from various causes, would experience great inconveuience, or with whom it would be utterly impossible to prepare the Deco‹ tion, the Fluid Extract, which possesses the advantages of portability and of keeping in any climate, will be found a most desirable made of employing this muchesteemed Medicine.-The diseases in which it has proved most beneficial are those of the Skin, such as the Scorbutic Affections, Eruptive Diseases, Secondary Symptoms, &c. arising from a diseased state of the system at large. It is taken in water, rendering it of the same strength as the Decoction.-Sold in bottles, at 4s. 6d., 7s. 6d., and 20s. by Butler, Chemist, 4 Cheapside, St. Paul's; Savory and Co. 136 New Bond street, Loudou; and by the principal Druggists throughout the United Kingdom; of whom may be had BUTLER'S CITRATEO KALI, a preparation for making Saline Draughts, recommended by the Profession for its convenience and certainty. In bottles, at 2s. 9d., 4s. 6d., Ss. 6d., and 20s.-Ask for Butler's Fluid Extract of Sarsaparilla. WASHINGTON IRVING.-Mr. Washington Irving's acquaintance with English literature begins almost where Mr. Lamb's ends,-with the Sheep Spectator, Tom Brown's works, and the wits of Queen Anne. He is not bottomed in our elder writers, nor do we think he has tasked his own faculties much, at least on English ground. Of the merit of his Knickerbocker, and New York stories, we cannot pretend to judge. But in his Sketch-book and Bracebridge-Hall he gives us very good American copies of our British Essayists and Novelists, which may be very well on the other side of the water, and as proofs of the capabilities of the national genius, but which might be dispensed with here, where we have to boast of the originals. Not only Mr. Irving's language is with great taste and felicity modelled on that of Addison, Sterne, Goldsmith, or Mackenzie; but the thoughts and sentiments are taken at the rebound, FLUID EXTRACT of SARSAPARILLA.-In this preparation and as they are brought forward at the present period want both freshness and probability. Mr. Irving's writings are literally anachronisms. He comes to England for the first time; and heing on the spot, fancies himself in the midst of those characters and manners which he had read of in the Spectator and other approved authors, and which were the only idea he had hitherto formed of the parent country. Instead of looking round to see what we are, he sets to work to describe us as we were-at second hand. He has Parson Adams, or Sir Roger de Coverley in his "mind's eye;" and he makes a village curate, or a country 'squire in Yorkshire or Hampshire, sit to these admired models for their portraits in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Whatever the ingenious author has been most delighted with in the representations of books. he transfers to his port-folio, and swears that he has found it actually existing in the course of his observations and travels through Great DR. FOTHERGILL'S TONIC FEMALE PILLS.-These Pills Britain. Instead of tracing the changes that have taken place in society since Addison or Fielding wrote, he transcribes their accounts in a different hand-writing, and thus keeps us stationary, at least in our most attractive and praise-worthy qualities of simplicity, honesty, hospitality, modesty, and good nature. This is a very flattering mode of turning fiction into history, or history into fiction; and we should scarcely know ourselves in the softened and altered likeness, but that it bears the date of 1820, and issues from the press in Albemarle-street. This is one way of complimenting our national and Tory prejudices; and coupled with fiteral or exaggerated portraits of Yankee peculiarities, could hardly fail to please. The first Essay in the Sketch-book, that on National Antipa have been in Public estimation for a very considerable time, and are particularly recommended in general Debility of the Constitution, also as a safe and excellent remedy in those periodical irregul rities which females of delicate and languid circulation, more especially the younger part, are liable to; they tend greatly to strengthen the Organs of the Stomach, correct bad Medicine will be found generally useful.-Sold in boxes, Is. 14d. and 28 9d. by Digestion, remove Nervous Giddiness, Head-ache, &c. &c. and as a Family Butler, Chemist, 4 Cheapside, St. Paul's; Savory and Co. 136 New Bond street, London; and by the principal Medicine Venders throughout the United King dom. Of whom may be had, Dr. FOTHERGILL'S NERVOUS DROPS, 80 much celebrated for their efficacy in Nervous disorders, and their various dis sing affections, as Oppression of Spirits, Head-aches, Loss of Appetite, Indigestion, Spams, Tremors, Fainting Fits, and Debility or Relaxation of the system. In bottles at 4s. 6d. ; 11s.; and 22s. Just published, in 3 vols. post Svo. Second Edition, price 30s. boards, FORTY YEARS in the WORLD; or, Sketches and Tales of a Soldier's Life. By the Author of "Fifteen Years in India," &c. Printed for Geo. B. Whittaker, Ave Maria lane. Now publishing, in Weekly Numbers, and Monthly Parts, A GENERAL BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. To be com pleted in one thick volume 8vo. by the publication of a sheet every week. Parts I, II, and III, are now ready, price Is. each, in a neat wrapper, containing the first twelve Numbers.-No. XIII. was published yesterday, Aug. 6. Published by Hunt and Clarke, Tavistock street, Covent garden. WORKS published by HUNT & CLARKE, Tavistock street, Covent garden :- AFFAIRS and particularly the recent PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSIONS. Svo. price 28. The STATE of the JEWS in the Beginning of the NINETEETH CENTURY. Translated from the Dutch of M. PAUL VAN HEMERT, by LEWIS JACKSON. 8vo, price 2s. 6d. stitched. REMARKS on the LEGALITY and EXPEDIENCY of PROSECUTIONS for RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. To which is annexed, an Apology for the Vices of the Lower Orders. By JONATHAN DUNCAN, Esq. 8vo. price 8s. boards. BACCHUS in TUSCANY; a Dithyrambic Poem. From the Italian of FRAN CESCO REDI. With notes original and select. By LEIGH HUNT. Foolscap 8vo. price 7s. boards, FABLES and EPIGRAMS; with Essays on Fable and Epigram. Translated from the German of Lessing. Price 8s. boards. ON the LAW of LIBEL. 8vo. price 2s. 6d. stitched. "This publication possesses considerable merit, and we do not hesitate to THE PULPIT, VOLUME IV; containing Reports of nearly On recommend it to our readers as worthy of an attentive perusal. Though no name appears in the title page, it is the acknowledged production of a known aud tried friend of the people. It comprises a summary exposure of many of the abominations contained in what is called the Law of Libel, as well as in the administration of that law."-Westminster Review for April 1825. Just completed, price 9s. in extra boards, with fine Portraits, Hundred Sermons, preached by the most eminent Divines, of differe Denominations; together with a large variety of Miscellaneous Matter. NEW EDITIONS of VOLUMES I, II, and III, with Portraits, are now ready London: priuted for Knight and Lacey, Paternoster row. In 4 vols. demy and foolscap Svo. boards, or in 4 parts, 18mo. stitched, The REBELLION of the BEASTS; or, " The Ass is Dead:-Long Live the DON JUAN, Cantos VI. to XVI. inclusive. Yesterday was published, in 12mo, stitched in a neat wrapper, S4 pages, with a Portrait of Napoleon, Part 1. price One Shilling, of THE HISTORY of NAPOLEON'S EXPEDITION to RUSSIA. By General Count PHILIP de SEGUR. The Publishers conceive that little explanation need be given of the reasons which have led them to think that a cheap edition of a work which unites the highest interest of romance to the truth of history, will be acceptable to the Public. A prodigious number of the Original have been sold in France in a few months; and several editions, both in French and English, have appeared in London, in 2 vols. 8vo. The present work will be completed in Nine Parts, of the same size as this first, and will at the conclusion forin two neat volumes in boards, for 10s. being only two-fifths of the price (25s.) of the previous English translations, to which it will not be inferior in paper or print. A Part will appear every fortnight. This work displays great talent. It is clear, cloquent, animated, full of dramatic interest, fascinating, and-we may add-instructive, to unmilitary readers like us, beyond any account of a campaign we ever remember to have read."-Scotsman. Twenty-two thousand copies of M. de Segur's work are scattered over France in every direction. For forty years we have had nothing so interesting and so true. The tragic recital excites intense interest in all readers, whether Frenchmen or foreigners."-Letters from Paris, by Grimm's Grandson, in the London Magazine for August 1825. Printed for Hunt and Clarke, Tavistock street, Covent garden. LIBRARY OF LIGHT SUMMER READING; OR, ANAS of english LITERATURE. The following Original Works are submitted to the Public as a desirable class of books of inexhaustible variety and amusement, entirely new to English Literature. The object of the able and learned Editors has been to condense and assemble, into the focus of three elegant volumes, all the striking facts and piquant anecdotes which have hitherto been scattered through hundreds of volumes, ancient and modern, or have been buried in the great libraries of Europe. Another object, not less gratifying to every reader of taste, has been to engrave the curiosities and relies of every subject: and hence the volumer abound in Autographs, Portraits, and Views of Buildings consecrated by genius. Considered as wholes, no books, in our language, approximate them in completeness, elegance, taste, and intellectual gratification; and they exhibit all that is fascinating in the History, Biography, and Science of their several subjects, without the dryness of History, the formality of Biography, or the pedantry of elementary Science. Price of each, in demy 8vo. 9s. 6d. ; in foolscap, 73.; in 18mo. 1s. Printed for Hunt and Clarke, Tavistock street, Covent garden. DR. PHILIP ON INDIGESTION.-FOURTH EDITION. Just published, in 8vo. price 98. TREATISE on INDIGESTION and its CONSEQUENCES commonly called Nervous and Bilious Complaints; with Observations o the Organic Diseases in which they sometimes terminate. A By A. P. W. PHILIP, M.D. F.R.S. Ed. &c.-Fourth Edition. A PRACTICAL TREATISE on DISEASES of the SKIN. By SAMUEL PLUMBE, M.R.C.S. &c. Author received the Jacksonian Prize from the College of Surgeons. A Printed for T. and G. Underwood, 32 Fleet street. COOPER'S SURGICAL DICTIONARY.-NEW Edition. Just published, in 1 thick vol. 8vo. price 27s. boards, DICTIONARY of PRACTICAL SURGERY, comprehenda all the most interesting Improvements, from the earliest times down to the present period; an Account of the Instruments and Remedies employed Surgery; the Etymology and Signification of the principal Terms; and numer references to Ancient and Modern Works, forming a Catalogue Raisonn Surgical Literature. The Fifth Edition, corrected and enlarged. By SAMUEL COOPER, Surgeon to the Forces, &c. &c. &c. Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Örme, Brown, and Green; Thomas art George Underwood; S. Highly; Geo. B. Whittaker; E. Cox and Son; Simpk and Marshall; Burgess and Hill; A. Black; C. and W. Tait, Edinburgh; and Hodges and M'Arthur, Dublin. TO MEMBERS OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. THE LONDON MEDICAL REPOSITORY and REVIEW. 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ARTS and ARTISTS; or, Anecdotes, Facts, and Literary Relics of Painters and Pictures, Sculptures and Statnes, Architects and Buildings, Engravers and Prints, of all Schools and Countries. By James Elmes, Esq. M.R.I.A. &c. 3 vols. with numerous Engravings, price One Guinea. 6. PROFESSIONAL ANECDOTES; collected in the Lecture-Room, Hospital-Surgeries, and Medical-Colleges of London and Edinburgh, from the ages of Hippocrates and Galen, to that of Brown, Bichat, and Jenner. By an Octogenarian. 3 vols. with numerous Portraits and engraved Relics, price One Guinea. London: printed for Knight and Lacey, Paternoster row; and to be had at the Booksellers and Circulating Libraries. Many of the Numbers of the preceding Series of the Work being out of pric and it being the intention of the Editors and Publishers to make several in *** tant changes and improvements in its Plan, a New Series has been commen rẻ, the First Number of which appeared on the 1st of July. The changes i have taken place, consist of an extension of the Review department, and of the monthly Collection of Facts and Observations, which latter will present the reader with a concise view of whatever may be worth perusal in all the ob medical and scientific journals published in Great Britain, and on the Contiama of Europe and America. Original Commuunications, of a select description, ar continued, and they are solicited on the part of the Editors from the Profess A larger impression of the Work has enabled the Publishers to extend (80 number of its pages, without increasing its price, and thus to render the Was still more deserving of professional patronage, both as respects the quality a quantity of its contents. The Medical Repository and Review will, it is bet be found an impartial Repository of everything relating to Medicine, may deserve to be recorded in it. The Numbers of the Work which have been out of print, may be now has the Publishers.-Printed for T. and G. Underwood, 32 Fleet street. London: printed by JOHN HUNT, in Broad street, Golden square, and published by him at the Examiner Office 35 Tavistock street, Covent garden.-Prico74. No. 915. MONDAY, AUG. 15, 1825. THE POLITICAL EXAMINER. Party is the madness of many for the gain of a few.-Porz. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE. Letters on England: by A. de Stael Hulstein. Letters from France: by John M. Cobbett Two books can hardly differ more from each other than do these volumes. Both are however amusing and useful; and as each suggested to us in the perusal similar ideas on one or two points, we have placed them together at the head of this article, in order to introduce a few extracts and remarks upon the important topic of the comparative degree of happiness enjoyed by the two nations separated only by the English Channel. And first a word regarding the books themselves. to be and would be signs of the good condition of a people; but that they may exist without being such, Britain is a convincing proof. In no other country of Europe-(Holland has been excepted, but we doubt the propriety of the exception)-is there so large a mass of people living upon the industry of the rest of the community, without contributing anything to the national wealth. In what metropolis besides London shall we find large districts inhabited by families supported in idleness upon incomes derived from real or funded proIn what other country are perty, from trade, or from the taxes? there numerous large towns (such as Bath, Brighton, Cheltenham, &c. &c.) almost totally dependent on wealthy visitors who spend the industry of the country? Where shall we find so great a class of there, during part of the year, a portion of the incomes drawn from income which a baronet or 'squire in England thinks very moderate, persons keeping splendid equipages, and living in costly style? An is considered magnificent in Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Berlin, PetersThe French author (a son of the celebrated Madame DE STAEL) dependents of our rich families, all consumers of the products of burg, or Rome. Then again is the enormous body of servants and who appears to have resided here for a considerable period, has industry without adding to the common stock. Add further what thrown into the form of letters a series of essays on the political are called unproductive labourers-or those who are engaged in institutions and character of the English nation. He gives an account ministering to the enjoyments of the rich by means which contribute of the legislative bodies, the modes of election, the division of nothing to the common stock, either in direct useful produce or by property and classes, the conduct and influence of newspapers, and exchange, and it does not seem difficult to understand why those the state of parties; and he proceeds to theorize upon all these mat classes who really support the community, are both over-worked and ters, with a view to explain what appear to foreigners marvellous under-paid. Thus it is, that Great Britain has become the richest inconsistencies in our political system. In doing this, M. de STAEL nation in the world, while its industrious population-the producers has displayed a little of the common French fault of resolving every of its riches-are among the most miserable. With a prodigious thing into paradox and antithesis, and has fallen into some natural body of wealthy families, with enormous capitals in the hands of mistakes respecting us, but really, when we consider the complex individual traders, with pecuniary means equal to vast undertakings, state of our social relations, and the puzzling aspect they must present with the largest public revenue ever known in any country, with to a foreigner, we are surprised that he has made so few. It is unrivalled machinery, and an advanced state of agricultural and maevident indeed, that he is a sensible, modest, and enquiring person;nufacturing science, the labouring classes are pressed down to the that he has taken up no opinions hastily, but has diligently collected earth by excessive toil and poverty. Putting out of the question a few facts, and taken pains to extract from them correct inferences. Above trades in the metropolis, which require ingenuity in the workmen, and all, he is distinguished by a philosophical love of truth, which places in which a constantly increasing demand for their commodities has mainhim above both national prejudices and personal influence. He tained a high rate of wages, and looking to the great body of farmappears to speak his mind upon all the subjects he treats of with the ing labourers, and of journeymen manufacturers, we do not hesitate utmost candour, as well as with perfect good temper and an enlarged to say, that so much toil with such disproportionate reward-so much sympathy with his fellow creatures. physical suffering and consequent crime-are not to be found in the labouring portion of any other European community. Of the toil and misery of our manufacturing workmen of their confinement in horrible atmospheres for 14 or 16 hours a day, their squalid appearchildren to the like wretchedness-the public now know enough. Some recent discussions have thrown a good deal of light also upon the condition still more degraded (because ignorance is added) of the agricultural labourers. Able-bodied men in the prime of life are working from sunrise to sunset, in the fields and barns of the farmers, for a shilling, tenpence, eightpence, or even sixpence a day, while the 41b, loaf actually costs nearly as much as the largest of these sums! The families of the labourers cannot of course be fed and clothed on such pittances-hence the six or seven millions of pounds sterling per annum paid in poor-rates, and hence also a great portion of the debasement and vice of the poor. We could not help smiling at M. de STAEL'S mode of evading the plain inference to be drawn from this frightful amount of public contribution for the poor, and of constructing a paradox out of it. Foreigners at first sight (he says) would infer from this fact, that England was a country of very rich and very poor-of palaces and hovels, of nobles and beggars. sition (he proceeds) would be conformable to reason; but what would facts say to it? They would tell us, that in no country of Europe does there exist so little difference between the physical enjoyinents of the different classes of society." And what sort of proof does the reader suppose our, lively visitor produces for this bold assertion? A remark which is said to have been made by the Continental Despots, when they were transported through the metropolis in a sort of triumph, and the townspeople assembled in their holiday dresses and Mr. JOHN COBBETT, on the contrary, gives us all fact, and no theory. His letters-which are real letters, written at the times stated—are valuable, as affording precisely that species of information which most travellers either wholly neglect or touch upon very super-ance, their induced bad habits, the early devotion of their unhappy ficially. He describes the soil of the districts he passes through, the division of land, the agriculture, the relations of farmer and labourer, the dwellings, the dress, the wages, the manners and conversation of the industrious classes, and the prices of all produce and necessaries of life. The book is written in an unpretending style, but discovers good sense and observation, and is very pleasant reading. The young man just says enough to let one see that he is a disciple of his father in politics, but never obtrudes his opinions on the reader: he has fulfilled his task with zeal and honesty, and has attempted no more. Nothing is more common than for individuals to confound, in respect to the acquirement of wealth, the means with the end. They wear out soul and body in obtaining enough to afford subsistence without labour, and in so doing neglect to cultivate those tastes and faculties which can alone make leisure supportable. They habituate themselves, during their slavery, to look forward to wealth as including almost every kind of felicity; and when they have secured it, find that it necessarily includes none-that it is only a negative good, producing the absence of the commonest sort of anxiety (that of procuring food and clothing), but leaving its possessor still a stranger to those mental and social enjoyments, a relish for which the engrossment of money-getting has prevented him from acquiring. We suspect that nations sometimes make a like mistake; or more correctly perhaps, that common observers make the mistake in regard to nations. They look to the aggregate wealth of a country, instead of to its distribution. They reckon up its revenues, its products, its capital, its imports and exports, its public institutions, its roads, canals, bridges, &c.; and in proportion to the amount of these, estimate the prosperity and happiness of its inhabitants. There cannot be a more fatal error. Under a proper system, all these things ought smiles! "This suppo "Where are then the people,' said the Allied Sovereigns, on their arrival in London, astonished at perceiving up external appearance of wretchedness in the curious crowd that pressed round them." We do not stop here to remind our readers, that the English are of 1 all nations the most regardful of appearances, and will sacrifice most real comfort to externals: there is no occasion seriously to refute the above assertions, since they only show in what sphere of society M. de STAEL has moved, and how little he knows of the interior of the garrets and hovels which house our working classes. For all this, however, the facts he does communicate are of no mean value. Take the following, as a contrast between the condition of our manufac turers and those of France :"A French iron-master, travelling in England some years since, to learn the progress made there in the manufacture of iron. went down into a coal mine, in one of those districts where radical opinions were most generally diffused among the people. When in its subterranean galleries, he conversed with the workmen on the nature and duration of their labour, their wages, their food, and all the particulars of their way of life. The workmen on their parts interested in the conversation of a man who displayed an accurate knowledge of their concerns and wants, and engaged also by the liberality of the opinions he displayed, inquired in turn into the state of the labouring people in France. How many workmen do you employ ?' said they. Four or five hundred.' a pretty good number: and what wages do they earn! That's cost to feed and maintain a family in the part of France where you live? What does it Their wages are lower than yours: but this is more than made up to them by the cheapness of the necessaries of life. You are right,' said the miners, after having made a little calculation among themselves, which convinced them, that in reality the condition of the workmen was better in France than in England: but how long do they work every day?' Eight hours on an average. No more! the rest of the day ?They cultivate their land, and work for themselves. And what do they do What do you say, their land? Then they have property? they have ground, they have houses of their own ? Certainly at least most of those have, whom I employ. At these words astonishment was depicted on every countenance." citizens of a free country!" It is plain, that M. de STAEL knows nothing of the actual intercourse subsisting and peasants, in the country, or between the gentry and their dependents, in towns; and that he enters very little into the feelings which between landlords, farmers, place so impassable a barrier between patrician and plebeian, the rich and the poor man, in England, and make so many degrees in the scale of rank and wealth, each attended by a corresponding amount illustration on this point, as on all others perhaps, may be supplied by the exhibition of the contrast which French manners afford to our of pride towards inferiors, and servility towards superiors. Our best in the royal grounds at St. Cloud, near Paris, as he was returning home one evening from Versailles:Mr. COBBETT describes as follows a scene which be witnessed own.. STAEL-to whom our extracts have not yet done justice-and place We must stop here for the present; but we shall return to M. de population, and the consequences of the condition of the people here before our readers some excellent arguments of his on the subject of and abroad. LITERARY NOTICE. "Under a very fine cluster of these lime trees, there are two rings state for dancing. The neighbourhood meets, it seems, on every fine divided off, the one being a little lower than the other, and kept in a summer's Sunday evening, and whilst ladies and gentlemen occupy the upper division, maid-servants and men-servants occupy the lower one, prettiest I ever saw. and one set of musicians plays to both parties. Of all dancing this is the meeting form a complete ceiling, and the lamps placed in considerable The branches of the lime trees spreading over and The floors are sand, bound sufficiently to keep it from flying, and, for the number amongst the large and delicately transparent leaves of this beau tiful tree, shed the palest and most impartial light that you can imagine convenience of those who do not dance, there are seats all round the tators besides four sets of dancers. The ladies were of course dressed in rings, these rings being sufficiently large to admit of a great many spec the most airy manner, in the greatest variety of the prettiest colours ; in a great many colours every one of them, and if any of them were too glaring or gaudy, the light was such as to correct it. They wear their bonnets Nothing, however, can supply stronger proof of the low physical The place is so captivating that one almost overlooks the rest, but the while dancing, only just untying the ribbon: and for easy and gracefal condition of the labourers in England, than the moral debasement to choice of place is one great characteristic of the genuine taste of the movements, for pretty dancing, who can deny that here the people excei! which they have been brought by it. There is a great difference in French people in these matters. They always choose to dance out of this respect between the manufacturing and the agricultural popula- doors when the weather is fine enough, adding to their own innate gaiety tion. Whenever numbers are congregated, and a certain quantity of all that they can borrow from open air and the varieties of nature. A intelligence spread among them, a sort of public opinion is created, proof of the goodness of both classes is that of their meeting and almost which favours individual independence, by causing respect on the dancing together. A whole family may be dancing in the upper ring part of the masters, and a sense of the value of their knowledge on that of the workmen. But nevertheless the deportment of the Eng-music. It was nine o'clock before we could leave this place.” whilst the servants are dancing in the lower one, and all to the same lish poor generally towards their superiors in station is degrading and melancholy. In the agricultural counties in particular, it amounts to the grovelling. The laws have so completely subjected the farming labourers to the absolute will of the magistrates and the clergy, and circumstances have placed them so entirely under the control of their immediate employers, that there is hardly any kind of insult or debasement to which they will not how their heads. The single circum.stance of the tame submission of English soldiers to the lush, argues a degrading education and habits of life in the peasantry, from whom The Troubadour, and other Poems, by L. E. L. Author of The Improchiefly, the army is recruited. Mr. COBBETT relates a conversation at the dinner-table of an inn at Orleans, which illustrates this feeling: We apprehend that, in her own peculiar field, this very poetical But his highest proof of the bad organization of our army, and some volume will bring the author of the Improvisatrice no small addition thing, too, which spoke not much in favour of our “nation liberale, was that the common soldiers are flogged. He turned round to the two mation, the work before us partakes of precisely the same character Frenchmen, and said with fierce energy," Messieurs, on of laurels. We speak of her own peculiar field, because, in our esticomme des chiens!" They had all heard it; indeed it is generally les fouette known, for during the stay of the Holy Alliance (whom the French call as the Improvisatrice, with still higher feeling and more exquisite finish. "nos ennemis les Alliés ") at Paris, nothing in the manners of the differ-lification as to the extent of it. We noticed, in reference to the InIn thus observing, we convey at once very positive praise, and a quaent nations seems to have struck them so much as the beatings of the provisatrice, that one train of association seems to entirely occupy the Cossacks and the English. They all pity the creatures that submit to it, mind of L, E. L. and the passion of love, and its operation, to form and look upon them as being little better than dogs. But the astonish-her only theme. While this exclusiveness gives intensity, and, treated ment of these gentlemen was that Englishmen, who are all, to a man, with the melting pathos and poetry of her illustration, a sense of overdeemed liberals, should submit to such dog-like punishments." And again, in his conversation with a master-manufacturer at touched indeed to convey, it indisputably narrows the sphere of Alsace:whelming tenderness and devotion, which a mind must be finely the same time be remarked, that the power of L. E. L. in this respect attraction, and smothers the reader as it were with roses, is essentially descriptive, and paints passion rather than exhibits it. It must at Her figures want the relief of the sculptor and the self-developing tiful train of imagery and reflection, by which she tricks off the enprinciple of the dramatist. Thus her great merit consists in the beaugrossment of her all-devoted youth and maiden, added to a most tasteful talent for romantic description, and those heightenings of Even M. de STAEL takes notice, that the intercourse between as accompaniments, are so suitable to her general subject. But then superiors and inferiors in England is marked by extreme servility on after all, what is love? The ungallant query! Without, however, the exquisite, and occasionally of the wild, in nature and in art, which, the part of the latter; but then he has a very pretty theory, that there going the length of the wit, who observed, that "half the world woul is a sort of reserved self-respect in the lower orders, which allows them know nothing about it, if they had never heard of it," we may yenture to be exceedingly humble in manner to those above them, but which, to observe, that the most fascinating and feeling of Romeos and F in case of ill-treatment or insult, would break out into a "proud rude-liets require the contrast of more ordinary people, and that there is a ness," indicative of a "profound sentiment of their own rights as difficulty in describing a series of them, without a repetition of asso "I asked if corporal punishment was known to be exercised on the children, and he exclaimed, NO! No. This was at dinner, at the table d'hote, and a little man, a merNot even the most mitigated?' chant of Avignon, hearing my question, ratified Mr. Hielmann's answer, by exclaiming, Non, Monsieur, le Français ne se soumets pas aux batons!' No, Sir, the Frenchman does not submit to the cudgel. And it is true enough, that a Frenchman, of however low degree, will resist the cudgel of his master, however well he may merit it, and however powerful the master." visatrice. |