fighting against Buonaparte's own troops. In the 5th vol. pp. 607-8, of the" Literary Panorama," it is stated that the ware-houses at the London-docks are full of goods brought from the European continent by Dutchmen, who take back large quantities of British commodities in return; a small part of which is publicly burned, while the remainder is diffused over his Imperial Majesty's dominions. The royal consort of Napoleon is not the only royal female on continental Europe, who, in disobedience to the blockading decrees, wears English cotton stockings under French silk hose. In time of peace, the greatest export of British commodities in one year to Germany amounted to £1,900,000; to France, Flanders, Holland, and Germany, the greatest yearly peace-export was £5,400,000; but in the year ending the 5th of January, 1810, under the pressure of Buonaparte's decrees, the exports from Britain to Germany alone amounted to £8,000,000. And on the 19th May, 1810, it was stated at Lloyd's coffeehouse, London, that notwithstanding Napoleon's army of military excisemen, a most lucrative traffic was carried on between Britain and Holland; the Dutch being the medium by which British manufactures were introduced in great abundance into France. Nay, Buonaparte himself has been obliged to solicit a direct trade between England and France; for by a decree dated August 7th, 1810, he says, "The outward cargoes (bound to England) must consist of wine and French brandies, to one-sixth of the tonnage of the vessel; and five-sixths to consist of wine, brandy, gum, herbs, seed, fruit and French manufactures, or salt. The import cargoes to consist of timber, hemp, raw materials, iron, bark, drugs, rice, Russia tallow, wax, linseed, fish-oil, pitch, tar, potatoes, shumack, dollars, lead, minium, tin, whitelead, arsenic, dried hides in the hair, wainscoat and board." In answer to this, the British government proposed to issue licenses to neutrals to export to France one-third of each cargo in British or EastIndia manufactured goods, the remainder to consist of sugar and coffee; and to import from France grain, meal, flour, burr-stones, seeds, olive-oil, and wine, but no brandy, After fending and proving a while, each government receded from its first intention, and for a time a considerable direct trade was carried on between the two countries. So late as the 20th October, 1810, the arrivals in England from the Baltic had been immense; and hemp, flax, pitch, tar, turpentine, timber, &c. had fallen considerably in price. By the" Report of the select Committee of the honorable House of Commons on the high Price of Gold Bullion," ordered to be printed 8th June, 1810, the following account of the official value of imports and exports with the continent of Europe alone, as received from the inspector general of the customs, is presented. The above table shows that the decrees of Buonaparte inflict much greater injury on continental Europe than on Britain, by diminishing its exports considerably, while the balance of trade, as it is called, has always been greatly in her favor. That her staple-manufacture has not suffered any diminution in consequence of these decrees, may be known by consulting the official returns of her woollen manufacture in the North of England, to 25th March, 1809. Years. 1807-8 1808-9 Yards of narrow 5,931,253 Yards of broad eloth milled. 8,422,143 9,050,970 Total increase in yards, 13,162; the increase of 628,827 yards in broad cloths being at least in a double proportion to the decrease in narrows, which is only half the width of the broad cloths. It should also be noticed that in March, 1808, the stock of cloth on hand was very great, whereas in March 1809, it was very small, so that more woollens were sold during the year ending 25th March 1809, than in any preceding year. Lord Sheffield, in his account of the wool-trade of England in the year 1810, says,, "The export of superfine cloths, compared with that of inferior manufactures, is small; and the great bulk of the woollens is made entirely of British wool, especially those for exportation. The cloths made of Spanish wool are chiefly used at home, which is always the best market. Very good superfine cloth is made of South-down wool, and is quite sufficient for the woollen manufacturies of Yorkshire. The woollen trade in the West-Riding is at present very flourishing; in the year ending 25th March 1810, there was an increase of 1,417,883 yards above those of the preceding year, 15,777,805 yards being made within the year. The demand for low and middle-priced woollens has swept away all the stock on hand at an advance in price of from £5 to £7 per cent. and the price of wool has risen in proportion. The official value of woollen goods exported in the year ending 25th March 1810, was £5,416,151, that is £562,152 more than the export of the preceding year. The mode of eluding Buonaparte's decrees may be known by consulting the " Literary Panorama," Vol. 5th, pp. 103-107; which contains a body of very curious and interesting facts, sufficient to warrant these inferences; namely, 1st, that Buonaparte's decrees enable Britain to buy Continental goods cheaper, owing to the great glut in the market, in consequence of their difficult exportation; and 2dly, his own vassals are compelled to buy British commodities dearer, owing to their difficult importation, and the expense of bribing his custom-house officers, neither of which effects is peculiarly calculated to ruin the people of England. In the "Evidence adduced before the Committee of the House of Commons on the high price of gold coin and bullion," in June 1810, Mr. Greffulhe, a general merchant trading chiefly to the European Continent states, that "in the year 1809, the imports into England from Continental Europe were enormous, and fetched in England very moderate prices; while the principal articles of export from England to the European Continent command prices there from fifty to two hundred and three hundred per cent. higher than their existing prices in England. The imports from the Baltic in 1809 have been immense, and also from Holland, which last place, and more particularly the Ems, have been the principal channels through which British exports, have found their way all over Continental Europe. These exports have consisted chiefly of Colonial produce and British manufactures, which have commanded very high prices on the European Continent, and yielded large profits to the English merchants: a pound of Brazil cotton, which in London was sold for 2s. fetched 6s. at Amsterdam, and 8s. at Paris. The exports of colonial produce from England to the European Continent were greatly increased in the year 1809." How is Buonaparte to prevent the introduction of British goods into the European Continent? In addition to his lining the coasts of France, Holland, and Italy with his troops and Douaniers, he insists also upon occupying the ports of the Baltic in the same manner. But how is he to pay these armies of military excisemen? His treasury is exhausted; so late as the month of September 1810, he again repeated his refusal of continuing the monthly allowances to his own armies acting in Spain, because" the Imperial Treasury is already drained, and there are no immediate means of replenishing it." If he does not pay his custom-house officers, what is to prevent them from being as open to bribery as they and their predecessors have always been? Will not the Smuggling Insurance-companies continue to despise and disobey his edicts? A sufficient answer to these questions, and a full proof of the impending ruin of Britain are supposed to be found in the decrees for burning all British goods that can be discovered throughout the Continent of Europe. The most lamentable tales are daily issued forth, respecting the immense quantity of goods burned, and people branded in the forehead with the letters V. D. all over France, Holland, Italy, and Germany. And the Moniteur of Nov. 2d, 1810, kindly informs us, that it has just received a letter from London, giving the most solemn assurances" that the Emperor's system of prohibiting and burning, will infalliby conquer England in a short time." Suppose it to be true that these goods and people are burned all over Continental Europe; how is that to conquer Britain? Will branding with a hot iron in the forehead some hundreds of French, Dutch, Italians, Germans, Danes and Swedes, frighten the British sailors and soldiers? And will burning the goods which his own subjects have bought in England and paid for, ruin the English merchants, or lessen the demand for British goods on Continental Europe? Besides, if Britain can be ruined only by excluding her commerce from Continental Europe, why has Buonaparte, since he began to burn his people and goods, issued so many fresh licenses to his subjects to trade direct with England; provided they adhere to the orders of the Tarif formerly issued for regulating that trade? In the six months ending the 7th of November, 1810, grain was imported from France into London, amounting in value to £1,400,000, of |