of exactly six months, and concludes the account of his proceedings, addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty, in the following words:

"Not an instance of purishment has taken place in this ship, nor has there been an officer or man on the sick list; and it is with a feeling not to be expressed, that I have to conclude this letter, by reporting, that the service has been performed, and the expedition I had the honour to command has returned, without the loss of a

man."

MONUMENT FOR THOMSON.
MR EDITOR,

AMONGST the many signs of improvement of the times, it is undeniable that a just and generous sensibility to existing genius honourably distinguishes the present age. But, perhaps, like many other good things, this too has its disadvantages; perhaps the rich reward of renown and profit that now invariably crowns the prosperous labours of the poet has brought forward such a crowd of competitors, that, although, in point of the quantity produced, this is unquestionably the most poetical of all ages, its superiority in quality may not be quite so apparent. Indeed, I will own to you, Mr Editor, that I think poetry herself is in no small danger of being drowned in the ocean of modern verse; and it does certainly appear to me, that the floods which have been of late poured through the land have overwhelmed beneath their wide spreading torrent the less copious streams that used to wander through it in their beauty and pleasantness, more especially since the poetry of the Lakes has burst its bounds, and inundated us with its unceasing deluge; or, in short, Mr Editor, to leave the current of metaphor, lest, experiencing the apprehended fate of fair poesy, we should be drowned in it, I do suspect, that the multifarious rhyme of our contemporaries has thrown into undeserved obscurity the classical poetry of our land ;— that Byron, Scott, Campbell, Moore, Crabbe, Rogers, Southey, Wordsworth, Wilson, Hogg, Montgomery, and a long et cætera, have taken place of Spenser, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Prior,, Akenside, Young, Thomson, Gray, and many others, whose names, indeed, are in our mouths, and whose works are in our libraries, but whose

poetry is not in our hands or in our hearts. In more senses than one they are laid upon the shelf.

But it is a law of Nature, that the most prolific animals shall be the most short-lived, and vice versa ; and, perhaps, there may be amongst the less numerous offspring of these earlier poets some which, like the aged eagle, may yet live through a succession of centuries, and survive many a generation of the swarms of glittering insects that now sport in the summer's sun-beam. But I ask your pardon, Mr Editor; I am relapsing into my besetting sin" of metaphor again. In plain English, I must, however, be permitted to add, that, though there are many poems of the present day whose existence I cannot but suspect will prove ephemeral, there are others which I am convinced will live as long as the language in which they are written. It is, however, not only of the neglect of the works of the classical poets, but of the oblivion of their memories, that I complain ;— that

Nations, to living genius rarely just, To buried merit raise the tardy bust, is a reproach by no means applicable, at present, to this country. I am afraid the reverse holds true,-and though I rejoice most unfeigned. ly that the "living genius" which at present brightens our land should receive its due share of "applause, I cannot but lament that apparent insensibility to "buried merit" which inscribes no tribute of gratitude or admiration to the "mighty dead." The poets, the philosophers, the statesmen, and the heroes of England, pass away, and no stone appears on the spot of their birth to record their existence. The foreigner who comes from distant countries, attracted by her fame, may traverse her various realm, and scarcely see a single memorial to remind him that she ever produced one illustrious son; and yet, who is there that has not felt, that it gives new charms to the loveliest scenes of Nature, and an interest even to the most sterile, to know,-that here the poet whose lays we have loved,—the hero whose fame we have admired, or the patriot whose virtues we have wor shipped,-first drew breath?

Perhaps there may be some who, possessing such feelings, may be inte

rested by the information, that a monument to the memory of Thomson is at length to be erected in his native place, Ednam, in Roxburghshire. After many years of unsuccessful efforts, a subscription has been raised, chiefly by the gentlemen of the neighbourhood, sufficient to insure the completion of the undertaking on a very small scale. It is to be begun early in the ensuing summer, and it is expected that the Minstrel of the North" will lay the foundation-stone of this humble monument to the memory of the Poet of the Seasons.

To him whose Muse was Nature, whose enchanting visions called up the air-built "Castle of Indolence,' -whose patriotic strain of "Rule Britannia" has been felt in every British heart, and whose lays are even now re-echoed in Tuscan vales, and in the sweetest accents of Tuscan song, I need not add my feeble meed of praise. Yet I would hope, that, amongst his countrymen, there are many who would wish to pay this last tribute of respect to his genius, and who, feeling the generous sentiment that prompts the rude Highlander to throw his flinty offering upon the mountain cairn of his chief, may take pleasure in adding one stone to the monument of Thomson.-I am, Mr Editor, your obedient servant,

A SCOTCHWOMAN.

P. S. Subscriptions for the intended monument of Thomson, at his na

tive place, the village of Ednam, in Roxburghshire, will be received by Messrs Constable and Company, or by Mr Alexander Douglas, W. S. Albany Street, Edinburgh; by Mr John Murray, Albemarle Street, or Messrs Potts and Waldie, 63, Queen Street, Cheapside, London; and by Mr John Smith, Bailie of Kelso, where a complete list of the subscribers may be seen. subscriptions at present amount to L. 320.

The

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMERCIAL

EMBARRASSMENTS OF THE COUNTRY.

THE successful conclusion of the late arduous and protracted war naturally gave rise to the pleasing anticipation of a new era in the history of the country favourable to domestic improvement; and as mankind, in the course of the last thirty years, had succeeded so well in devising new inVOL. IV.

ventions of mischief, and new modes of destroying each other, it could hardly be thought that their efforts should have been less successful, when they were turned from war to peace,-from those arts which are pernicious and destructive, to those of which the sole and necessary tendency is to enlarge the comforts of nations, and to add generally to the stock of social happiness. It was expected, on grounds which were at least plausible, that, with the return of peace, the intercourse of nations would be renewed, and the surplus produce of different states being freely circulated as before, that commerce would flourish, and would again diffuse its beneficial effects over all those departments of industry which war had laid waste. That these expectations were very general, there can be no question, nor need we be much surprised that the pleasing visions of domestic prosperity should have been readily, and without much reflection, connected in men's minds with the return of peace. A very short experience, however, served effectually to banish these illusions. Peace, indeed, was established, but it brought with it none of those blessings which were wont to follow in its train. Commerce was reduced to the lowest ebb,-all the great branches of industry were at a stand; there seemed to be no longer any demand for the ordinary articles of human consumption; and the bankruptcy of merchants, and the general idleness and beggary of the labouring classes, were the natural consequences, as they were the indisputable evidences of this unprosperous state of commerce. From this lamentable depres sion the country had, in a good degree, recovered, and commerce was slowly reviving from its languid state, when a new stagnation takes place,bankruptcy, that most fatal symptom of the public distress, occurs to a great extent, spreading alarm among the mercanule classes, and threatening a general subversion of credit; and the circunstance of this convulsion happening in a season of general peace, serves to heighten the general dismay. When we find all the usual resources of prudence to fail,-when we find that peace has lost it former efficacy in healing the wounds inflicted by war, we are confounded, and the mind becomes a prey to dark and doubtful

Uu

fears of something radically unsound in the state of the country, which can only work its own cure by some violent crisis. These apprehensions can only be dispelled by a general view of the nature of our commerce, and of the principles on which its prosperity depends, by which we shall be the better enabled to judge respecting the causes which are at present in operation to retard its improvement, and to create among mercantile men such extreme embarrassment and distress.

In every country, land and labour are the two great sources of prosperity and wealth, and a nation is thriving or otherwise, exactly as it is more or less industrious, and also exactly as its industry is more or less skilfully managed. In all civilized countries, the different classes of inhabitants attach themselves to particular trades, in which, from the dexterity they acquire, their labour is likely to produce more than if it were divided between various employments, in none of which they would arrive at any degree of skill. Every one, however, labouring in this manner at his particular vocation, produces more of that particular article at which he works than he can possibly consume, and the surplus he exchanges with other traders, each of whom, in the joint labour of the society of which he is a member, has his specific task assigned him. The members of every civilized community labour in this manner, in common, and the joint produce of their labour is placed as it were in a general stock, out of which each draws, when it comes to be divided, his share, which is in proportion to what his labour has contributed. This is substantially the transaction which takes place in every commercial country. The necessaries and luxuries produced from its land and labour are equitably shared among all those who have contributed to increase the common stock, and this division is effected by means of money. By this skilful direction of its labour, a nation is richer than if each individual were labouring for the separate supply of his own particular wants; but, at the same time, it is evident, that all the members of the community are brought into dependence on each other for a supply both of necessaries and comforts, and that if, by any accident, their mutual intercourse were interrupted, they must be

in want of all those articles which they were accustomed to receive from the labour of others; while, on the other hand, they must have a superabundant supply of such commodities as were furnished by their own labour.

If this would happen in the event of any interruption in the domestic intercourse of a country, the same effects will necessarily follow, where any accident occurs to interrupt the inter course of trading countries. In the progress of commercial improvement, precisely the same relations take place between nations as between individuals. Different states are necessarily impelled into different lines of industry from various causes, from the aptitude of soil and climate, from circumstances connected with their actual condition, such as the plenty or scarcity of capital, or from causes purely accidental. Some nations are cominercial, some are agricultural, and between these an exchange of surplus produce necessarily takes place. They could not otherwise pursue their respective plans of industry. They labour in concert, and the joint produce of their labour is afterwards shared by an equitable process among all the different members of the commercial confederacy. As nations advance in improvement, this principle of mutual co-operation is constantly carried to a greater extent, and perhaps in no country was it ever so thoroughly acted upon as in Great Britain. The commerce and manufactures of this country had been gradually improving for nearly a century, until, by their superior cheapness and excellence, they had made their way into all the markets both of America and Europe. This extension of the market naturally gave rise to new devices for abridging labour, and to new methods for its improved direction, until at length, in almost every department of our industry, we manufactured more than we could consume at home, and were consequently dependent on the foreign market for an outlet to our surplus produce. Through a long course of persevering and successful industry, our commerce had been gradually moulded into this form by the extension of the market. We were connected with other nations by ties which could not be rudely toru asunder, without shaking to its centre

the whole system of our domestic prosperity. An extensive foreign demand was the basis on which the trade of this country rested for support. To this principle it had a direct reference in all its arrangements and most minute details, and, once deprived of this outlet, it was evident that it must languish for want of a market. Of this outlet, however, it was deprived by means the most violent. We were excluded from the markets both of Europe and of America, in the one case by the vast military power of our enemy, and in the other first by prohibitory decrees, and afterwards by open war with the United States. The loss of all our accustomed markets produced a stagnation of our trade, until that time, unexampled. Manufacturers were ruined by the depreciation of their stock, and their workmen, without employment, suffered all the miseries of want. This, then, was the origin of our commercial distresses, and from this original and fatal depression we have never been able to recover. Our commerce, languishing under the shock of violence and war, has never revived into that life and alacrity which it formerly possess ed; and if we consider the vast extent to which it had increased, we shall see at once that it was in the nature of things impossible for a trade so extended to recover from the derangement occasioned by even a temporary exclusion from all its former markets. Such was the nature and extent of our vast establishments, which had increased as the market extended, and in which the capital and skill of the country was invested, and could not be withdrawn, that, even after the demand ceased, the supply still continued. The necessity of employing the capital already invested in machinery, or in a stock of the raw material;-the desire of giving bread to thousands of starving workmen,-and the lowness of wages, operated as inducements to the manufacturers to continue the supply of goods far beyond the demand, and thus a vast stock was accumulated, which the demand has never been able to clear away. The access to our former markets is again opened; but we have such facilities for increasing the supply of goods to almost any extent that the demand, though it has increased,

makes but little impression on the more rapidly increasing supply. The great evil seems to be, that the consumption has run in arrear to the supply; and until this arrear be cleared away,-until the stock of goods accumulated during the interval when British commerce was under proscription be reduced, our merchants must still be embarrassed for want of a market; and it is under this malady that our trade has been continually labouring ever since the first check which it experienced about the year 1816. Its recent history, indeed, amply demonstrates this. Since the period we have alluded to, wherever a market has been opened, however distant, the supply has instantly burst out in such a disproportion to the demand, as quickly to depreciate the goods sent out far below their original cost. To what cause but the want of a market at home are we to trace the ruinous adventures of goods sent out to the Brazils, and to Buenos Ayrês? The Indian market, lately opened, is also ruined from the same cause, namely, an inundation of goods far beyond the demand, from our glutted markets at home. This last fact points plainly to the true cause of the continued depression of our trade; for it shews that our commerce is ready to traverse half the globe for an outlet, and no sooner is it found, than it is choaked up by an over supply of our manufactures.

That this cause of the depression of our trade will be in time removed, there is little reason to doubt. It is not easy, indeed, to see whence the demand of Europe and America for manufactures can be supplied, except from this country. We know that the manufactures of these countries, established in consequence of the exclusion of British goods, have been ruined since the market was re-opened to our merchants. They were not able to withstand the competition of our goods, always cheap, but, at that time, depreciated far below their natural price, and they have been consequently abandoned. The supply, therefore, must still be derived from this country, and there appears to be no reason why it should diminish. Our trade to the United States ought rather to increase. with the improvement and increased population of that vast country. Time will, however,