The reverse, in all points, was the character and conduct of the Lascars. The Commander of a ship shall deliver to the officer authorised to grant the clear. We now present an Abstract of the ance, a true list in duplicate of every Asiatic Sailor, Lascar or Native, on board Regulations made by the East India or intended to be taken on board, with a Company, in obedience to the Act of specification of the terms and the rates of 54th Geo. III. сар. 134. wages on which they shall severally have The first provides for medical assist-been hired; and also true lists of the quanance, in behalf of Asiatic Sailors: that every ship shall have a surgeon, and The a supply of proper medicines. second resolution we give verbatim: it shews the desire of the Company to accomplish the purpose. Every such Ship or Vessel shall be furnished and provided, by and at the expense of the owners or owner thereof, with a proper quantity of wholesome and good provisions, and Fuel, properly adapted for the use of the Asiatic Sailors Lascars and Natives, who during the voyage may be on board her; and such provisions shall be regularly served out to em during the course of the voyage: And every such Ship or Vessel shall in like manner be furnished for the use of the said Asiatic Sailors, Lascars and Natives, with the following Bedding and Clothing, viz. One Bed, to consist of three country blankets sewed together: One Pillow stuffed, with blanketing: One Jacket, and one pair of Trowsers with feet, made of four yards of Europe red or blue cloth; One Jacket, and one pair of Trowsers with feet, made either of Europe cloth or country blanketing: One pair of Shoes : man: Which Bedding and Clothing shall be delivered out to the said men, or such of them as shall not be already supplied therewith, whenever any such Ship or Vessel shall be in any latitude to the North of twenty-four degrees North, or to the South of twenty-four degrees South of the Equinoctial line, and such bedding and clothing shall become the property of the persons to whom it shall be delivered out; provided always, that the same man shall not be entitled to more than one set of bedding and one set of clothing in the course of the same voyage: And the owner or owners supplying the same, shall be at liberty to deduct from the wages of each man who shall be supplied with any bedding or clothing in proportion for part of a set, or the whole. tities and sorts of provisions, fuel, bedding, clothing, and medicines provided and on board the Ship or Vessel, for the use of the Asiatic Sailors, Lascars and Natives; and (if required) the Commander of every such Ship or Vessel shall produce the said provisions, fuel, bedding, clothing and me. dicines, on board the said Ship or Vessel, for the inspection of the officer authorized to grant the clearance, that it may be ascertained that they are sufficient in quantity and quality for the intended voyage, before she shall be entitled to her clear ance. • All the Asiatic Sailors, Lascars and Natives on board any such Ship or Vessel, shall be accommodated with healthy and roomy berths or lodging places, for which purpose sufficient space shall be left under the upper deck; and they shall also be allowed proper accommodation for cooking, and to cook their victuals on board such Ships or Vessels, according to their own manners habits and customs. The owners or owner of every such Ship or Vessel, from which any such Asiatic Sailor, Lascar or Native shall be discharged in any country, other than that at which he shall have been shipped or to which he shall belong, shall, at the cost and charges of such owners or owner, find and provide proper lodging, raiment, food medicines, and medical and surgical assistance if necessary for him, from the time of his discharge till there shall be an op portunity of his entering himself on board some Ship bound to his own country on which he may work his way home, and the owners or owner of which shall be willing to contract to provide him with a berth, food, bedding, clothing and me dicines and medical advice, for the return voyage. To these regulations the Commanders not only subscribe, but give bond for their fulfilment; and this ought to be known, for the honour of the country. Nothing can be conceived more dis tressing than the case of a sailor left in a foreign port by a hard hearted Caps tain; sick, perhaps, or sickening, at least ;-without money, without friends without assistance, without a home.→ Exposè Comparatif de l'Etat Financier. Militaire, Politique, et Moral de la France, &c. Comparative Estimate of the Financial, Military, Political, and Moral State of France, and of the Principal Powers of Europe.-By M. Le Baron Bignon. 8vo. pp. 518. Paris, December 1814. Our readers have seen occasionally, in our pages, instances of seamen left for years on islands far from human habitation; of natives of distant parts-the South Sea islands, &c.-brought to England, and then turned adrift among all the miseries of London manners. Such crimes caunot again occur; as it is to be hoped: but, if they should occur, it is well to know that redress can be had through the enactinents of the Legislature, as in the present case through the interference of the Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress, as in cases alluded to; and through those truly pions and benevolent persons who not rarely visit the abodes of these strangers and foreigners, for the purpose of imparting to them such instruction as they may be capable of receiving, whether by means of conversation, er of tracts suited to their circumstances. This leads to the observation, that under the name of Oriental, or Asiatic Sailors, various classes of men are introduced into this country, who, in religions sentiments and observances, are entirely distinct, and even opposite from each other: some are worshipers of one god, as cisciples of Mahomet; others as disciples of Confucius, are a kind of deists, not properly simple and pure deists, if such characters ever existed in national communities-but, as swayed by the authority of some celebrated teacher. If we mistake not, idols are objects of adoration by a portion of these people; while others abominate the re-interested in the consequences, were semblance of any thing in heaven above, or in earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, if it assume the character of an idol; and, very many, are scarcely able to endure the figure of any living thing, lest it should be or should become idolatrous, in fact or in power. This must render the office of superintendant of such an establishment, at once laborious and delicate. To deny either of these tribes the liberty of retaining its own obsergances, is to impose a desecration on the human character, to which no man is competent. To accommodate them all, so many, and so various, implies an acquaintance with their manners and practices that can only be acquired by long observation and intimacy with them. POLITICS are an ocean, the currents in which are perpetually varying, and bearing away with them the state vessels sailing upon it, with or without resistance, with or without detection. The course designed by the commanders marked on the chart, but the buoyant may be well planned, and accurately waves maintain a different impulse, and deliverance from imminent danger, or the consequence may prove to be either multiplied hazards in the most terrific forms. Of late, we have seen this ocean so boisterous that the most skilful pilot knew not whither he steered. Silence was prudence. A general confession of extremity was all that he allowed to escape him, whatever he might see or feel; even this he would have concealed, but it was too notorious; its effects also were too general among the sovereignties of the earth to be treated as trivial, or disregarded as imaginary. For a while, the storm appeared to be hushed; and during this interval the different effects produced by this calm on the minds and manners of those who were the most The striking to a patient observer. It is not fair to judge M. Bignon by events subsequent to his publication: yet we can hardly forbear from quoting his prediction that no such coalition. of the Allies and their troops, could ever again enter France, as triumphed over its Emperor and its metropolis in 1813. He concludes with perfect confidence, that England will no more advance the sums necessary to put in motion armies which shall again tread the sacred soil of the great nation. He has been deceived: in common with millions of his countrymmen, he experiences the mortification of seeing Paris a second time in the hands of foreigners, no longer disposed to treat it with that excess of lenity, which it has repaid by ingratitude, never to be obliterated from the annals of history. white dress, must be accepted for mourn- | practised all over the world, under the ing; but this is fashion and form: it is description of the greatest possible boon not real grief. On the contrary, he and bounty? complains of l'extreme rigeur qui a réduit la France à ses anciennes limites, -c'est une sorte de provocation faite a Forgueil national: but, what has "national pride" to do on this occasion? can national pride replace the property destroyed, the devastations anthorized by national authority, and carried to national profit? Can it recall to life the myriads of dead of which it has prematurely depopulated the earth? Where is the "extreme rigour" of reducing France within her ancient limits, by depriving her of acquisitions obtained by robbery and massacre? France ought rather to be ashamed of retaining any thing which might serve to remind her of her unprincipled spoliations and robberies: she should intreat those to whom her stolen goods belong to remove them with all possible speed from before her On the present occasion, and under eyes. No such thing: and hence we present circumstances, we shall not atdiscover in this volume one of the pre-tempt a full examination of this percursors to that violent overthrow of the Royal Power, which has ended so fatally for those engaged in it. M. Le Baron Bignon speaks also of the morale of the army; but he means by it little more than the attachment of the soldiery to their colours, their officers, and their trade of rapine and pillage: he discusses the état moral of France, but takes care to inform us that under this title he does not propose to present a picture of manners, except so far as relates to political purposes and indications. formance: but, as we gave a place to the Report of the French Minister, in relation to the state of France,* at the accession of his Majesty Louis XVIII. to which this is intended as a kind of answer, we deem it but fair to record this statement also:-a sketch of a sketch. We then thought that the Minister had not put the worst face on things, as they stood: M. Bignon does not affirm that he had; but, he more than hints it; and endeavours to impress this conviction on the mind of his We have said, and we say still, that reader. He would wish to prove that there is no security for the peace of France was not, herself, so exhausted, mankind, so far as it depends on France, but what in proportion to other Governexcept in an amelioration of her man-ments, she was really in a powerful and ners in a diffusion of better moral prosperous condition. feelings among her people, with a better To accomplish his intention, he instisense of things in their relation to the tutes a comparison between the princigenuine principles of integrity and vir pal objects of national strength, as they tue. Either this;-or such a preponderat-relate to the preponderating countries of ing force as shall approach even to-Europe, and to France; as to,-the wards oppression; as shall approximate Finances-the Army-its stores-the to those measures of precaution of which Navy-the Public opinion, &c.; and France has set the fatal example in other from these he draws inferences on the countries. It is now the time for Europe course of politics to be followed by France We shall to ask France "how she likes the treat- with regard to each of them. ment she has long enforced on others? restrict our notice to the subject of FiWhy complain of that which she has nance, principally; for, though the * Compare LIT. PAN. Vol. XV. p. 1183. writer has made advances only towards the truth on this subject-yet he brings into one point of view a statement, which in several of its parts may be new to some of our readers; and is certainly interesting to the public. Although he complains so grievously of the losses sustained by France in being reduced to her former limits-a perversion of terms not to be passed by without censure-yet he has the grace to acknowledge that the exactions of the French, while their tyranny lasted, were severe beyond endurance, and extensive beyond calculation. He confesses, that, There is not a single country on the continent, over which, in consequence of our military advantages there has not been established a regular system of exaction, as a right resulting from possession obtained by conquest. This exaction because always accompanied by legal forms, was so much the more active in transferring to the French treasury the wealth of the country ⚫ccupied. all demands, and resolved on accomplishing the purpose without contributing in any measure to the means, Although a crowd of secondary causes has concurred to produce the miraculous conclusion of the last contest, it is impossible not to see throughout the whole the Finances of England, as the most active of those agents which have at any time excited the population of countries, and commanded the fate of the world. The French government, arrived at the highest degree of power, by a succession of military prodigies, had oppressed every coun try, either by the weight of its force, or that of its pride. Where motives of hatred did not exist, there existed a sensation of envy not less violent than hatred itself. What was wanting to these discontented and embittered princes, and people? They had courage and arms: money, in which alone they were deficient, existed elsewhere: hatred and riches united; and the banking office of Plutus became the arsenal of Mars. This confirms the uniform language of the Panorama, It is impossible to believe that this conviction of the naThe French government tural tendency of oppression did not did not reflect, that by wringing a few exist long ago; but under a change of millions of livres more, from such or such circumstances, only, was it prudent to a country, it was sowing the seeds of that hatred which might, when grown up proconfess so much. When the Emperor duce fatal effects. In teaching the nations was to be flattered, these convictions that misery is not the greatest of evils, they were concealed, When Louis is to be learned also, that poverty is always rich | schooled and directed, they are avowed. enough to avenge itself; and that, though deprived of gold, and silver, it can never want for iron with which to strike its oppressor. Our author well observes, that Four kinds of power are necessary to ensure the welfare of a state: the power of money; the power of the sword; the France bas employed as well her mili-power of a good political system; the powtary preponderance; as the Continental er of general opinion. System to enrich her treasury, and to exact from her allies not less than from her enemies, those capitals which she coveted for her own purposes. It is, perhaps, by this system of exaction as much as by its conquests, that the French government has sowed so many seeds of discontent and animosity. Jucessantly it demanded; but, it never bestowed. Even at a moment when a people, subordinate to its intentions, stood in need of assistance, in order to support still greater exertions in its cause, it granted its succours, at best, with close fisted reluctance, and under the name of a loan: it sold them, as it were, the power of serving it. A few millions of livres, a few hundred thousands, thrown away, among them, occasionally, might, in many cases, have obtained immense returns. An inflexible parsimony denied FINANCES OF FRANCE. In conformity to this arrangement, M. B. places first under examination the power of money-but not without indulging his spleen in a vehement tirade against the finances of England. He admits, that notwithstanding the receipts from other countries, obtained by war, or by despotism, yet imposts were necessarily augmented in the interior of France. Nevertheless, he describes the Minister's statement as "a horrid skeleton of finance, displayed in all its deformity. It was an hideous phantom that at first terrified every imagination:" whence he infers that the cause. of the alarm it spread was ideal; and that, on close examination, the spectre | livres; in France, they were 81,400,000. would vanish. He presents the following statement, as the result of correct investigation. After some variations, the maximum of the debt demandable, is taken at francs The interest of the funded debt being 100 millions francs: the capital may be calculated at 759,000,000 Yet this debt overthrew France; while England has quadrupled her burthen, and is more flourishing than ever. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF the Interest of the Debts of France and England. 2,000,000,000 1814. The interest of the bonded debt, is 8,000,000 fr.: this represents a capital of This enormous debt ought to be further augmented by some consideration of the entire and total bankruptcy to which France submitted in the affair of the Assignats, &c. &c.—so that, it is after a general violation of honour and credit, that the debt is at least, the sum stated. This writer, however, recollects periods in the History of his Country, when her debt was equal in magnitude to its present amount. E. gr. At the death of Louis XIV. in 1715, the debt (demandable) of France was more than 700 millions. The interest of the funded debt was nearly 100 millions: the united Capital was 3,110,994,000 livres. The receipts at that period were only 155,000,000 net. In spite of various tyrannical suppressions, the Regent could not reduce the debt below 2,400 millions. And again, in 1735, the debt was nearly 2,000 millions. It is a curious circumstance noticed Undoubtedly, the comparison ap pears on paper to be six to one against England;-but, then, the Bankruptcy of France, ought in justice to enter into the calculation: for what else has ruined her credit? If a loan were wanting in foreign parts, which of the two countries would find the lesser difficulty in filling it ?-which enjoys the greatest reputation abroad for punctuality and good faith? M. B. would answer these questions in favour of France; notwithstanding the contrary evidence of facts: but being unable to satisfy himself on this, ut present, he wisely looks forward to an era that defies contradiction. "Per by our author, that previous to the pro-haps," says he, "when credit shall be longed war, now closed, the debts of France and England were equal, as to the interest paid;but the advantage as to the nature of the debt was in favour of France; as the proportion of life annuities, which must fall in, some day, was greatest in France. This gives occasion to a comparative statement of the progress of these debts. The debt of France was exactly even with that of England, in 1784. According to M. Necker, France paid annually, partly in life annuities, partly in perpetual interests, 207 millions, livres; which taking the livre at the then course of Exchange, was equal to £8,933,414. The life annuities in England were about 30 million planted in the soil of France, it will strike deeper roots there than it has struck in England. The shifting quicksands of the mercantile wealth of Britain do not offer it so deep a staple of earth as the territorial riches of France offers. It is strongly to be presumed, that the Tree will continue growing for us, when the Old Oak that shades England will have begun to cover that country with its shivered branches." This is at least, civil ;-we trust it is not certain: yet we would derive a caution from this unambiguous proof of reconciliation! on the part of the French; and strongly recommend the utmost attention to every |
