Blackwood\'s Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXII. by Various

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1830 5 poods, 32 lbs., 59-1/2 zdotnicks.
1832 21 --- 34 --- 68-3/4 ---
1834 65 --- 18 --- 90-3/8 ---
1836 105 --- 9 --- 41 ---
1838 193 --- 6 --- 47-1/2 ---
1840 255 --- 27 --- 26-3/8 ---
1842 631 --- 5 --- 21-1/4 ---

The total of the thirteen years has been 2093 poods, 38 lbs., 46 zd. The
pood, be it remembered, is equal to (rather more than) 36 lbs.
avoirdupois.

The total general yield of the older worked mines
of the Oural mountains for 1842, was, besides,
149 poods, 18 lbs., 58 zd.
And of platina, 53 -- 33 -- 67 --

On a rough estimation, the produce of all the gold, platina, and silver
from the silver mines, could not have amounted to less, perhaps, for the
year 1842, than three millions sterling.

According to the learned academician Koeppen, of St Petersburg, in a
lengthened memoir upon the subject, the total population of Russia,
inclusive of Poland, Finland, and Trans-Caucasian provinces, ascended in

1839 to 65,000,000
Or of Russia Proper alone, 55,500,000

With an empire so gigantic, a population so large, however
disproportioned as compared with territory, and with resources so
incalculable, it must appear extraordinary that foreign commercial
relations are so limited. The total of exports and imports together for
1841, represents only, in round numbers, a commercial movement to the
value of 165,811,000 silver rubles, or in sterling, about L.25,907,300.
The matter which most concerns this country, is the very
disproportionate interest which results to its share in the export and
import trade of Russia. Taking the latest British returns of the value
of Russian products imported into England, for the Board of Trade tables
give quantities only, as we find them stated by Mr McGregor, the
indefatigable secretary of that board, for 1838, at L.6,977,396, or say,

in round numbers L.7,000,000
And British exports at the
declared value here of,
say, 1,700,000
-----------
There would appear to result
the very heavy difference
against the United
Kingdom of L.5,300,000

But bad as the case may be, it is not quite so bad as these figures
would represent. It must not be forgotten in this sort of calculation,
that shipping, freights, insurances, and commissions, represent property
quite as substantially in the commercial sense, as even Mr Cobden's
printed calicos, or friend Bright's flannel pieces. Now, we think it
might admit of proof, that as much as nine-tenths of all the produce
brought to this country from Russia, is so brought in British bottoms,
and so also of the exports to Russia; although in 1840, the last of the
Board of Trade tables containing such particulars, no more than 1629
British vessels, of 340,567 tonnage, against 296 foreign, of 79,152
tonnage, entered British ports from Russia--the proportions being much
the same outwards; but whether the foreign were all Russian vessels may
be doubted. Let us assume, however, that no more than three-fourths of
both imports and exports were so carried, and leaving three-fourths
British freights outwards to balance Russian one-fourth freights inwards
and outwards, let us in fairness estimate the worth of that freightage
in reduction of the enormous balance against us. As for Spain, in our
last Number, we took twenty per cent to cover all the freightage
charges, before indicated, on her commodities of less bulk though more
value in proportion, twenty-five per cent on the average will not be too
much, certainly, to cover those charges on the more bulky products of
Russia, more especially when the long, costly, and intricate navigation
of the Baltic, and the White and Black Seas, are taken into account. The
calculation will then stand thus:--

Imports from Russia, L.7,000,000
Deduct twenty-five per cent freightage, &c.
as British property and profit, 1,750,000
-----------
Real value of imports as on board in Russia, L.5,250,000
Declared value of ex-British exports to Russia,
L.1,700,000
Value of British freightage, &c., as above,
1,750,000
----------- L.3,450,000
-----------
Real approximative balance in favour of Russia, L.1,800,000

or say two millions, as the three-fourths produce of outward freight
would, perhaps, not quite compensate the one-fourth on inward and
outward cargoes to the Russian shipping. Even such a balance is
exclusively and unjustly large against a country which, like Great
Britain, is a consumer of Russian products to the extent of
seven-twelfths of the total exports of Russia to all the world. The
consequence is, that the rate of exchange is almost invariably against
this country. Lord Howick, indeed, most quixotically deals with adverse
exchanges; he disposes of them summarily, and in a style that must have
astonished the people on 'Change. This disciple and representative of Mr
Edward Gibbon Wakefield's economics in the House of Commons, as Lord
Durham was before his political disciple, and the victim of his schemes
colonial, thus decisively disposes of adverse exchanges in the
celebrated debate on Import Duties, taking Portugal for an example.

"A large increase of importations from Portugal would
necessarily be attended by a proportionate increase of our
export trade. Was it not clear that every merchant who imported
a pipe of wine would anticipate the bills drawn against him on
account of it, and that, whatever would be the increase in the
amount of imports, there would be a corresponding increase in
the amount of the bills drawn against us? How were our
merchants to provide for them? There would be no difficulty in
it, whether the trade of Portugal increased legally or
illegally. Suppose an increase of imports into Portugal, there
would be an immediate demand for bills to Portugal. _The
consequence would be, that if there was any other country from
which Portugal received more than it exported, the bill-brokers
would get bills from that country_, and our manufactures would
be sent there instead of to Portugal. Admit that you could not
find in any other country the means of discharging your debt by
importation of your manufactures, bills on Portugal should then
rise to a certain premium, and gold and silver would be sent to
discharge the debt. The gold and silver would come from some
other country, and the consequence would be that we should send
our manufactures, not to Portugal, but to South America; while
Portugal would be obliged to send the bullion to some other
country that it might carry on a smuggling trade with its
neighbour, Spain. It was impossible for the ingenuity of man to
point out any different result."

The "bill-brokers" will be greatly amused with the new line of business
chalked out for them, of "getting bills" from other countries when short
in this. There are two descriptions of "bill brokers," but the class
bearing that designation purely deal with domestic bills only. The other
class are known as "exchange brokers," because they meddle only with
foreign bills; but as to "getting bills" from abroad when bills are
wanting here, that trustworthy and respectable description of agents
certainly never dreams of such an occupation. Lord Howick would seem to
imagine that manufactories of bills existed specially abroad, and that
people could draw with as much nonchalance from Paris or from Hamburg,
upon Jack Nokes and Tom Styles at Amsterdam or Frankfort, as here Lord
Huntingtower accepted for his dear friend the Colonel values uncared
for, or as folks familiarly talk of valuing an Aldgate pump when an
accommodation bill is in question. May we venture to hint to the member
for commercial Sunderland, the _ex_ for Northumberland, that the
functions of "exchange brokers" extend no further than to ask A if he
has any bills to sell, and B if he is a buyer; whereupon he has only
further to learn what rate the one will purchase and the other sell at;
that knotty point arranged, the bargain is concluded, and he receives
his very small percentage. The operations are carried on every day, more
or less, but on Tuesdays and Fridays, being especially "post days" on
London 'Change, where Lord Howick any day may be initiated in the
mystery, if not punctilious about being unceremoniously elbowed and
jostled about.

In the principle of protection, we hold Russia to be perfectly in her
right and her interest; in the abuse of it, she damages herself.
Prohibition is not protection; restrictive duties equal to absolute
prohibition, like the 85 per cent prohibitory tax, formerly levied here
on Indian cotton fabrics, in favour of Lancashire, are not protection in
the legitimate sense. The late Emperor Alexander hit the true nail of
principle on the head when, in 1819, he reformed the Russian tariff on
the calculation of imposts ranging from fifteen to forty per cent. We
are, nevertheless, bound to say, that, even as protection is understood
in its exaggerated sense by the Autocrat, the system has worked well for
Russia, as indeed we have shown. She has accumulated wealth by that
system; she has secured by it the possession of a large proportion of
those precious metals, which are indispensable no less as the medium of
foreign exchanges and balances, than as the means by which, above all
other means, the operations of industry, and the employment of labour,
are facilitated at home. How would industry progress, and wages be
dispensed, if the master manufacturer could offer payment of wages only
in yards or pieces of cloth, the iron-master in ore, or the
land-proprietor in oxen, sheep, corn, hay, or cabbages? In respect of
commercial balances, that of Great Britain against Russia is liquidated
probably, to some extent, by the yearly balance resulting against Russia
in her dealings with Persia; for the policy of Russia is to favour the
commerce of Asia, whilst oppressing that with Europe, and Persia is
always indebted to Great Britain. She has, however, the game in her own
hands. Can we wonder that she plays it to her own advantage,
half-political, half-commercial? She knows as well as we feel keenly,
that the raw materials, in which she is so rich, are indispensable for
our use; she charges accordingly. The time may come when we shall be
more independent of her, and then, then only, she will conform to
altered circumstances. The able and distinguished diplomatist at her
court, Lord Stuart de Rothesay, who succeeded in the arduous task of
negotiating the recent treaty of navigation with that crafty Government,
is the man also who will not be slow to avail himself of any favourable
conjuncture for turning circumstances to account, and redressing the
adverse balance now against this country.

As before said, our intention, on this occasion, is not to dissect
principles or theories, but to present facts. We have still more in
store for the absolute theory men. But, in concluding, we may be allowed
to observe, that the causes why a restrictive and exclusive system does
answer for Russia, and, on the contrary, tends to the ruin of Spain, are
simply these:--The raw materials of Russia are indispensable for this
and other manufacturing countries, because cheaper and more abundant
than can be elsewhere procured, and the price of labour is low. The raw
products of Spain necessary for manufactures are, on the reverse, dear
priced; her products of luxury, even, are dear; her rates of labour are
higher than in this or any other country of Europe. Two shillings and
sixpence a-day, or fifteen shillings a-week; with, besides Sundays, a
hundred saints' days or holidays in the year, put her labour and produce
quite _hors de combat_ in the race of competition. A Spanish operative
would no more toil on a _dia de dos cruces_, (two saints on one day,)
than he would fast on a feast-day, with an odorous _olla podrida_ before
him on the table.

* * * * *

INDEX TO VOL. LIII.

[Transcriber's note: The page numbers refer to editions 327 to
332, published between January and June 1843, according to the
following table:

Edition 327, pages 1-140, dated January 1843,
328, 141-280, February,
329, 281-414, March,
330, 415-550, April,
331, 551-692, May,
332, 693-826, June.]

Aden, on the occupation of, 484.
Affghanistan, the war in, 17
review of the events in, 239
the evacuation of, 266.
Agriculture, the practice of, 415.
Akhbar Khan, murder of Macnaghten by, 257
defeat of, at Tazeen, 269.
Amalia, from the German of Schiller, 442.
Ammalat Bek, a tale, translated from the Russian,
Translator's preface, 281
Chap. I., 288
Chap. II., 296
Chap. III., 464
Chap. IV., 471
Chap. V., 478
Chap. VI., 568
Chap. VII., 573
Chap. VIII., 579
Chap. IX., 584
Chap. X., 746
Chap. XI., 750
Chap. XII., 752
Chap. XIII., 755
Chap. XIV. 759.
Anti-Corn Law League, failure of the, 6.
Antique at Paris, the, from Schiller, 312.
Antique, the, to the Northern Wanderer, 312.
Aristocracies of London life, the, 67
the aristocracy of fashion, 68
of power, 227
of talent, 386.
Arnold's lectures on history, review of, 141.
Astronomical works, from Schiller, 311.
Attorney's Clerk in the Monk's Hood, the, a review of Chatterton, 780.
Auckland, Lord, remarks on his policy in India, 18, 266.

Bailey, Mr, his Reply to an Article in Blackwood's Magazine,
on Berkeley's Theory of Vision, 762.
Ballads of Schiller, the, see Schiller.
Battle, the, from Schiller, 446.
Battle of the Blocks, the, 614.
Berkeley's Theory of Vision, further remarks on, 762.
Book of the Farm, review of the, 415.
Buckingham, the Duke of, his resignation, 5.
Burial march of Dundee, the, 537.
Burnes, Sir Alexander, murder of, 244.

Cabul, Eyre's Narrative of the Operations in, reviewed, 239.
Caleb Stukely, Part X. The Revulsion, 33
Part XI. Saints and Sinners, 213
Part XII. The Parsonage, 314
Part XIII. The Fugitive, 496
Part last, Tranquillity, 651.
Candia, the siege of, 718.
Capello, Bianca, history of, 554.
Chapters of Turkish History, No. IX,
Rise of the Kiuprili family siege of Candia, 718.
Chatterton's Poems, review of, 780.
Chief End of Man, the, from Schiller, 311.
China, state of our relations with, at the commencement of 1843, 19
justice of the war with, 20
future prospects of, 21.
Claverhouse's Burial March, a poem, 537.
Columbus, from Schiller, 312.
Commercial Policy in relation to Spain, review of, 673
In relation to Russia, 807.
Comte, Auguste, review of his Cours de Philosophie Positive, 397.
Corn-Law, Sir Robert Peel's alteration in the, defended, 5.
Correctness, from Schiller, 310.
Count Eberhard the Grumbler, from Schiller, 628.
Cromwell and Sir Oliver Cromwell, Imaginary conversation between, 209.
Cunningham's Life of Reynolds, strictures on, 596.
Curse of Glencoe, the, by B. Simmons, 121.

Death of Thomas Hamilton, Esq., 280.
Delta, the Lost Lamb, by, 395.
Disturbances in the manufacturing districts, the, 11.
Division of Ranks, the, from Schiller, 311.
Dream of Lord Nithsdale, the, by Charles Mackay, 83.
Dumas' Travels in Italy, review of, 552.
Dundee, the burial march of, 537.

East and South of Europe, the, 101.
Eberhard of Wurtemberg, from Schiller, 628.
El Empecinado, passage in the career of, 343.
Ellenborough, Lord, policy of, in India, 18
his policy with regard to Affghanistan, 266
his proclamation on evacuating the country, 276
defended against the charges of the Whigs, 539.
Elysium, from Schiller, 628.
Europe, the east and south of, 101.
Evacuation of Affghanistan, the, 266.
Expectation and Fulfilment, from Schiller, 439.
Eyre's narrative of the events in Cabul, review of, 239.

Fantasia to Laura, from Schiller, 638.
Favour of the moment, the, from Schiller, 438.
Fight with the dragon, the, from Schiller, 175.
Financial position of Great Britain at the close of 1842, 6.
Florence, sketches of, 561.
Flowers, from Schiller, 445.
Foreign affairs, aspect of, at the commencement of 1843, 15.
Fortune and Wisdom, from Schiller, 631.
Fortune-Favoured, the, from Schiller, 439.
Founding of the Bell, the, by Charles Mackay, 462.
Funeral phantasie, from Schiller, 626.

Genius, from Schiller, 310.
Gentility-mongering, on, 379.
Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield illustrated, review of, 771.
Good and the Beautiful, the, from Schiller, 309.
Great Britain at the commencement of 1843, 1
her position on the meeting of parliament, 5
financial state, 7
aspect of domestic affairs, 14
and of foreign relations, 15
state of her Indian empire, 18
and of affairs in China, 19.
Group in Tartarus, a, from Schiller, 627.

Hamilton, Thomas, Esq., death of, 280.
Hector and Andromache, from Schiller, 441.
History, Arnold's Lectures on, reviewed, 141.
Honour to Woman, from Schiller, 173.

Ideal, the, from Schiller, 433.
Ideal and the Actual Life, the, from Schiller, 435.
Ignacio Guerra and El Sangrador, a tale of civil war, 791.
Imaginary Conversations,
by Walter Savage Landor
between Tasso and Cornelia, 62
between Cromwell and Sir Oliver Cromwell, 209
between Sandt and Kotzebue, 338;
by Edward Quillinan
between W.S. Landor and Christopher North, 518.
Imitator, the, from Schiller, 310.
Income Tax, discussion on the, 7
remarks on, 8
causes which led to its imposition, 10.
Infanticide, the, from Schiller, 631.
Ireland, state of, at the commencement of 1843, 14.
Italy, Dumas' travels in, reviewed, 552.

Jeweller's Wife, the, a passage in the career of El Empecinado, 343.
Jove to Hercules, from Schiller, 311.

Khelat, occupation of, by the British, 274.
Khoord Cabul pass, retreat of the British through the, 262.
Kiuprili Family, rise of the, a chapter in Turkish history, 718.

Landor, Walter Savage, Imaginary Conversations by
between Tasso and Cornelia, 62
Cromwell and Sir Oliver Cromwell, 209
Sandt and Kotzebue, 338
lines by, 337
Imaginary conversation between, and Christopher North, 518.
Last of the Shepherds, the, Chap. I., 447
Chap. II., 449
Chap. III., 451
Chap. IV., 453
Chap. V., 455
Chap. VI., 458
Chap. VII., 460.
Lay of the Bell, the, from Schiller, 302.
Leap Year, a tale, Chap. I., 603
Chap. II., 606
Chap. III., 611.
Lesurques, or the victim of Judicial error, Chap. I., the four guests, 24
Chap. II., the four horsemen, 25
Chap. III., the robbery and murder, ib.
Chap. IV., the arrest, 26
Chap. V., the trial, 28
Chap. VI., the execution, 30
Chap. VII., the proofs, ib.
Chap. VIII., the way in which France rectifies an error, 32.
London, the world of, see World.
Londonderry, the Marquis of, review of his steam voyage
to Constantinople, &c., 101.
Lost Lamb, the, by Delta, 295.
Love's Triumph, from Schiller, 635.

Mackay, Charles, dream of Lord Nithsdale, by, 83
Founding of the Bell, by, 462.
Mackenzie, Captain, account of the murder of Macnaghten, by, 257.
Macnaghten, Sir William, description of the murder of, 257.
Maitre-d'Armes, a passage in the life of a, 733.
Marlinski's Ammalat Bek, translation of, Chap. I., 288
Chap. II., 296
Chap. III., 464
Chap. IV., 471
Chap. V., 478
Chap. VI., 568
Chap. VII., 573
Chap. VIII., 579
Chap. IX., 584
Chap. X., 746
Chap. XI., 750
Chap. XII., 752
Chap. XIII., 755
Chap. XIV., 759.
Marston; or, the memoirs of a statesman. Part I., 693.
Martyr's Monologue, the, a poem, 125.
Master, the, from Schiller, 310.
Memorandums of a month's tour in Sicily--leaving Naples
steam boatiana, 799
churches, 802
visit to the gardens of the Duke of Serra di Falco, near Palermo, ib.
the Thunny fishery, 804
the fishmarket, 805.
Merchant, the, from Schiller, 312.
Might of Song, from Schiller, 172.
Monaco, sketch of the history of, 573.
Moralist, to a, from Schiller, 630.
Mulready's illustrations to the Vicar of Wakefield, review of, 771.
Music in England, state of, Part I., 127.
Mystery of reminiscence, the, from Schiller, 442.

Natural history of the salmon and sea-trout, the, 640.
Non-intrusion controversy, account of the, 352.
Nott, General, movements of, in Cabul, 270.

Occupation of Aden, on the, 484.
Opium question, the, 22.

Parr, natural history of the, 640
its identity with the salmon, 643.
Passage in the life of a Maitre-d'Armes, 733.
Paul de Kockneyisms, by a Cockney, 366
a cit's soiree, 373.
Paving Question, the, 614.
Peel, Sir Robert, difficulties of his position
on his accession to power, 2
errors of his predecessors, 5
his alteration in the corn-law, 5
his financial policy, 7
his tariff, 11.
Philosophy of Dress, the, 230.
Poems and Ballads of Schiller. See Schiller.
Poetry, the dream of Lord Nithsdale, by Charles Mackay, 83
the curse of Glencoe, by B. Simmons, 121
the martyr's monologue, 125
the poems and ballads of Schiller, Part V., 166
Part VI., 302
Part VII., 433
Part VIII., 626
the young grey head, 202
lines by W.S. Landor, 337
the lost lamb, by Delta, 395
the founding of the bell, by Charles Mackay, 462
sonnet, on viewing my mother's picture, 495
the burial march of Dundee, 537
the vigil of Venus, 715.
Poetry of Life, the, from Schiller, 313.
Pollock, General, advance of, into Affghanistan, 269.
Poor-law, support of the, by the Conservatives, 14.
Practice of Agriculture, the, 415.
Pretenders to Fashion, on, 234.

Quillinan, Edward, imaginary conversation by,
between W.S. Landor and Christopher North, 518.

Retreat from Cabul, description of the, 261.
Reviews, Londonderry's steam voyage to Constantinople, 101
Reynolds's discourses, Part II., 181
conclusion, 589
Eyre's Cabul, 239
Auguste Comte's cours de philosophie positive, 397
Stephens' Book of the Farm, 415
Dumas' Travels in Italy, 552
Young and Shaw on Salmon and Sea-Trout, 640
The Vicar of Wakefield, illustrated by William Mulready, R.A., 771
Chatterton's poems, 780.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, review of the discourses of, Part II., 181
conclusion, 589
defence of, against the aspersions of Allan Cunningham, 496.
Riots in the manufacturing districts, the, 13.
Rousseau, from Schiller, 631.
Rowley's Poems, review of, 780.
Rudolph of Hapsburg, from Schiller, 169.
Russia, commercial policy in reference to, 807.
Russian Literature, remarks on, 281.

Salmon, Natural History of the, 640.
Sandt and Kotzebue, imaginary conversation between,
by Walter Savage Landor, 338
Sangrador, El, and Ignacio Guerra, a tale of civil war, 791.
Schiller, the Poems and Ballads of, translated. No. V.
The victory-feast, 166
Rudolph of Hapsburg, 169
the words of error, 171
the words of belief, 172
the might of song, ib.
honour to woman, 173
the fight with the dragon, 175
No. VI. The lay of the bell, 302
votive tablets, 309
the good and the beautiful, ib.
to ----, 310
genius, ib.
correctness, ib.
the imitator, ib.
the master, ib.
to the mystic, ib.
astronomical works, 311
the division of ranks, ib.
theophany, ib.
the chief end of man, ib.
Ulysses, ib.
Jove to Hercules, ib.
the sower, 312
the merchant, ib.
Columbus, ib.
the antique to the northern wanderer, ib.
the antique at Paris, ib.
the poetry of life, 313
No. VII. The ideal, 433
the ideal and the actual life, 435
the favour of the moment, 438
expectation and fulfilment, 439
to the proselyte maker, ib.
value and worth, ib.
the fortune-favoured, ib.
Poems of the first period, introductory remarks on them, 441
Hector and Andromache, ib.
to Laura, the mystery of reminiscence, 442
to Laura, rapture, ib.
to Laura, playing, 444
flowers, 445
the battle, ib.
No. VIII. A funeral fantasie, 626
a group in Tartarus, 627
Elysium, 628
Count Eberhard, the grumbler, of Wurtemberg, ib.
to a moralist, 630
Rousseau, 631
fortune and favour, ib.
the infanticide, ib.
remarks on it, 634
the triumph of love, 635
fantasie to Laura, 638
to the spring, 639.
Scinde, occupation of, by the British, 273.
Sea-Trout, natural history of the, 640.
Shah Shoojah, death of, 266, _note_.
Shaw, Mr, on sea-trout and salmon, 640.
Shaw, Thomas B., translation of Ammalat Bek by,
introductory remarks, 281
Chap. I., 288
Chap. II., 296
Chap. III., 464
Chap. IV., 471
Chap. V., 478
Chap. VI., 568
Chap. VII., 573
Chap. VIII., 579
Chap. IX., 584
Chap. X., 746
Chap. XI., 750
Chap. XII., 752
Chap. XIII., 755
Chap. XIV., 759.
Shepherds, last of the, a tale, Chap. I., 447
Chap. II., 449
Chap. III., 451
Chap. IV., 453
Chap. V., 455
Chap. VI., 458
Chap. VII., 460.
Sicily, memorandum of a month's tour in, leaving Naples,
steam-boatiana, 799
churches, 802
visit to the garden of the Duke of Serra di Falco, near Palermo, ib.
the Thunny fishery, 804
the fishmarket, 805.
Siege of Candia, the, 718.
Simmons, B., the curse of Glencoe, by, 121.
Song of the bell, the, from Schiller, 302.
Sonnet, by the author of the Life of Burke, 495.
Sower, the, from Schiller, 312.
Spain, commercial policy of Great Britain towards, 673.
Spring, address to, from Schiller, 639.
Statesman, memoirs of a, see Marston.
Stephens' Book of the Farm, review of, 415.

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