This state of things cannot be allowed to continue. If our exports are ever to revive—nay, if they are merely to continue at their present ebb without further declension—money must be made procurable at something like an easy rate. We cannot, and we will not permit the resources of the whole nation to fall a sacrifice to the insatiable avarice of the capitalist. We must not starve our population to allow him an exorbitant bargain. In the opinion of many we have already weathered the worst of the storm, and may prepare for a new career, though necessarily on a contracted scale. Certainly, if any thing could give us confidence, it is the knowledge of the fact that the mischievous monetary law is in abeyance, and we hardly think that, with the sight of the recent wreck which it has caused before our eyes, there is any chance of its remaining longer on the statute-book unrepealed. The very lowness of the ebb to which prices have been brought is a sort of guarantee of their revival; and although we have much to do, and perchance not a little to suffer, before we can regain the position which we once occupied, there is, at all events, some prospect of an advance. That, however, can only be gradual, and must depend upon our abandonment of theories, our renunciation of false guides, and our return to honest, humane, and intelligible principles. In the event of any temporary prosperity, it will be well to recollect that we owe the amendment neither to Sir Robert Peel nor to the Whigs. The former brought us into our difficulties; the latter did their best to keep us there, and yielded at the last moment with undeniably bad grace when matters were at the verge of desperation, and when no man could trust his neighbour. Warned by experience, it will be the duty of parliament, if it is wise, to apply itself diligently to the task, not of rash reform, but of wise remodelment. On many matters of the utmost financial importance there is little difference of opinion between the leaders of the country party and the representatives of large manufacturing constituencies. Peel and his few supporters, backed by the present ministry, stand isolated in their adherence to positions—it would be absurd to call them principles—which have been tried and found wanting in the balance. Except these, and unhappy Mr Jones Loyd, who stands forth in the midst of the group as the great hierophant of Mammon, there are few hardy enough to raise their voices in defence of arbitrary Bank restriction. It is clear to every thinking man, that extended operations require an extended currency; and that, as we cannot force gold into the country—for, after all, the supply of that commodity is by no means limitless—except at a ruinous loss, we must adopt the principle already sufficiently recognised and tested, and make good the deficiency with paper. This might be done either by the resumption of a one pound note circulation in England, or by an issue of national paper to the amount of our ordinary taxation; or, better still, by setting banking free, and permitting the joint-stock companies to issue notes in proportion to the amount of national securities lodged by them in the hands of government Commissioners. At any rate, we do hope that so far as Scotland and Ireland are concerned, they may be allowed once more to resume the control of their own monetary matters, and be relieved from those golden chains which are not only cumbersome to them, but, as we have shown, are seriously detrimental to England, by locking up in time of need a large portion of her established currency. With regard to the public works now in progress, we deprecate rash interference. It is not likely, nor is it at all desirable that for some time to come, any new schemes of magnitude will be proposed: let us then apply ourselves seriously to finish what we have begun, and without calling new labour into existence, let us husband our employment for the old. A new element of danger and distress has been introduced by the dismissal of many thousands of the workmen from unfinished lines, owing to the tightness of the money market, and the impossibility of procuring loans. This must be looked to immediately. These men have a right to their employment, for they have been called forth from their other avocations by the sanction of Parliament, and neither good faith nor public policy will admit of their abandonment at present. Above all, let us look to the tariff, and, dismissing from our minds the delusions of free trade and the dreams of future reciprocity, let us stand forth manfully in defence of the rights of labour, and of that native industry which is the true source of our country's greatness and renown. It will not do for the rich to go flaunting in foreign manufacture and apparel, while the operative is starving at home with the doors of the factories closed. We must not fill our palaces and our homes with articles of continental manufacture, whilst British skill is left to languish unpatronised and unemployed. If we must have those things, let us pay for them at a rate which will leave to our own workmen the ordinary chances of competition, and we have no fear whatever of the result. If we make a national profit by the depression of industry at home, we are buying it with the tears, and the misery, and the curses of thousands of the poor; if, on the contrary, we make no profit by the sacrifice, we are wantonly betraying ourselves. Let us then be wise in time. We have tried the effects of quack experiments upon our monetary and commercial systems, and both of them have given way. Let us have no more such; but let men of all parties, who are true and honest in their opinions, unite together in putting an end to the disorders in our social economy. The new Parliament ere these pages can issue from the press will be convened, and the prosperity of the country rests in a great measure in their hands. We shall await the issue of their deliberations upon these momentous matters with much anxiety, some apprehension, but withal a large admixture of hope. For although parties at first sight appear to be more than commonly disorganised, the late discussions which have arisen in consequence of our unfortunate embarrassments have effected a mighty change in the sentiments and language of many. Men who were formerly held to represent opinions of conflicting tendency, have been forced into juxtaposition, and have discovered that their differences were far more nominal than otherwise; and we cannot but hope that all such will work together cordially and conscientiously, and apart from faction, in placing both our systems, monetary and commercial, upon a firm and permanent basis. Be this as it may, we are at least assured that the members of the country party, undismayed by defeat or by desertion, will be, as ever, at their posts, and will justify, by their maintenance and advocacy of sound national principles, the confidence which has been unhesitatingly accorded to them by an important section, of the people.
INDEX TO VOL. LXII.
Adventures on West Coast of South America, by John Coulter, review of, 323.
Agrippa, 413.
Albani Villa, the, 626.
Alfred, fleets of, 88.
Alison, Dr on the Famine of 1846-7, review of, 634.
Almagro, one of Pizarro's companions, 5
death of, 19.
Altenburg, foundation of abbey of, 351.
Alvarado, Pedro de, 18.
Alvarez, Mariano, defence of Gerona by, [718].
Amelia, the Princess, 442.
America, Maga in, 422.
American Copyright, letter on, 534.
American Library, the, 574.
American Literature, general features of, [643].
Anabaptists, sketches of the, 355.
Andersen, Hans Christian, review of works of, 387.
Anglo Saxons, early fleets of the, 89.
Antipodes, navigation of the, 515.
Antomarchi, physician to Napoleon, 191.
Arbouville, Countess d', Tale by, [671].
Art in the Early Christian Ages, 446.
Atahuallpa, Inca of Peru, 12, 14
his seizure, 15
his death, 16, 17.
Athenian Navy, Pæans of the, No. I.—Phormio's victory in the Athenian Gulf, with some introductory remarks on the Athenian Sea Service, [736].
Athens, state of, during the era of Solon, 143.
Australia, interest of, 517.
Australia, research and adventure in, 602.
Avignon, city of, [709].
Avon, loch, 157, 158, 160.
Banking Act, Peel's, on, 113.
Barcelona, city of, [716].
Basque provinces and their population, the, [721].
Beethoven, 419.
Benalcazar, conquest of Quito by, 18.
Ben Nevis and Ben Muich Dhui, 149.
Bertrand, Count, at St Helena, 185.
Borghese villa, the, 622.
Borneo, island of, 528.
Braemar, scenery of, 153.
Brae Riach, Mount, 156, 157, 163.
Bruce, Travels of, 515.
Buckingham, Katherine Duchess of, 441.
Buckingham Bay, attack on the Fly, at, 521.
Burnet, Bishop, and his family, 443.
Byways of History, 347.
Cadet, Annetta, sketches of, 293.
Cæsar, 235.
Cagliostro, the vision of, 408
Tiberius, 411
Agrippa, 413
Milton, 415
Mirabeau, 417
Beethoven, 419.
Cairngorm, scenery of, 155, 156.
Cairn Toul, Mount, 163.
Campbell, Captain, of Glenlyon, [703].
Candia, Pedro de, 6.
Canvass for Painting, on, 307.
Capri, capture of Island of, from the British, 182.
Capricorn Islands, the, 519.
Captivity of Napoleon at St Helena, Montholon's narrative of, reviewed, 178.
Caroline, Queen of George II., character of, 437, 438.
Carteret, Lady, 441.
Catalans, character of the, [716].
Cennino Cennini, Mrs Merrifield's translation of, 309.
Centralisation, effects of, on Edinburgh, 75.
Charles V. interview of, with Pizarro, 9.
Charlotte, the Princess, Napoleon on the death of, 181.
Chien d' Alcibiade, Le, 102.
Children, Crusade of the, 285.
China, British voyages to, 516.
Christian Art, early character, &c. of, 446.
Cipriani, Napoleon's Maître d' hôtel, 182.
Clach Dhian, the, 160.
Clayton, Mrs, review of Memoirs of, 431.
Cochrane, Lord, gallant exploit of, 84.
Colouring of Rubens, on the, 564.
Common Sense, Philosophy of, 239.
Conquest of Peru, sketches of the, 1.
Constantinople, Napoleon's views on, 189.
Copyright between Great Britain and America, on, 534.
Coral Island, description of a, 518.
Coulter's Cruise, 323.
Cromwell, administration of Ireland by, [730].
Crossing the Desert, 21
continuation of, 334.
Crusade of the Children, the, 285.
Currency question, on the, 113, [744].
Cuzco, capture of, by Pizarro, 18.
Dalhousie Dinner, song for the, 493.
Danish Fleets, the Early, 88, 89.
Dee, Linn of, 153.
Dee, sources of the, 162, 164.
Delta, poems by, viz., a Requiem, 358
Song for the Dalhousie Dinner, 493
A November's Morning Reverie, 618.
Demasis, anecdote of, in connexion with Napoleon, 188.
Derrie, Glen, scenery of, 155.
Desert, crossing the, 21
continuation of, 334.
Dog of Alcibiades, the, 102.
Dreepdaily Burghs, how I stood for the, Chap. I. 259
Chap. II. 264
Chap. III. 269
Chap. IV. 275
Chap. V. 279.
Drummer of Nicklashausen, the, 353.
Duncanson, Major, [703].
Early Christian Art, 446.
Eastlake's Materials for a history of Oil Painting, review of, 301.
Edinburgh, effects of centralisation on, 75.
Edwards, Jonathan, [643].
Emerald Studs, the, a reminiscence of the Circuit—Chap. I. 214
Chap. II. 218
Chap. III. 223
Chap. IV. 227
Chap. V. 231.
Emerson, R. Waldo, [643].
Emperor's New Clothes, the, 406.
England, History of the Navy of, 82.
England, Effects of the Reformation in, [724].
English Kennel at Rome, the, 485.
English Voyagers, recent achievements of, 515.
Epimenides, Legend of, 144.
Evenings at Sea: Introduction, 96
Evening the first, the Miner, 97
No. II. Henry Meynell, 547.
Famine of 1846-47, Alison on, reviewed, 634.
Figueras, town of, [719].
First Patient, the, 317.
Fitton, Lieutenant, gallant exploits of, 85.
Fly surveying ship, Narrative of the, reviewed, 515.
Fouché, anecdote of, 315.
France, History of the Jew in, [728].
Franklin, Benjamin, [644].
Free Trade, on, in connexion with the commercial depression, [759].
Fuller, S. M., Papers on Literature and Art by, reviewed, 575, 580.
Gambling, anecdotes of, 315.
Gamo, capture of the, by Lord Cochrane, 84.
Garchary Burn, the, 164.
Gautier, M.—Theophile, a tale, by, 197.
Gaza, three months at, 334.
George II., Times of, 431.
German Travels, character of, [707].
Gerona, town of, and its siege, [718].
Giacomo da Valencia; or, the Student of Bologna: Chap. I. 359.
Chap. II. 361.
Chap. III. 366.
Conclusion, 369.
Glencoe, the Widow of, [700].
Glen Derri, 155.
Glen Lui, scenery of, 154.
Gogol: the Portrait, a tale by, translated, Chap. I. 457
Chap. II. 475.
Gourgaud, General, 181.
Greece, Grote's History of, reviewed, 129.
Greek Fire, the, 92.
Grote's History of Greece, review of, 129.
Hamilton's (Sir William) edition of Reid's Works, review of, 239.
Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse, review of, 587.
Henry IV. of France, 371.
Henry Meynell, 547.
Highland Destitution, 630.
Histoire Hollandaise, Une, [672].
History, Byways of, 347.
Homer, on the Authenticity of, 137.
Hounds and Horses at Rome—the English Kennel, 485
the Steeple-chase, 487
Roman Dogs, 489.
How I came to be a Sloven, [658].
How I stood for the Dreepdaily Burghs, Chap. I. 259
Chap. II. 264
Chap. III. 269
Chap. IV. 275
Chap. V. 279.
Iliad, authenticity of the, 138.
Improvisatore, Hans Andersen's, reviewed, 398.
India, Probable effects of the Railway on, 517.
Infernal, the, a fire-ship, 93.
James's Life of Henry IV., review of, 371.
Java, sketches of, 524.
Conquest of by the English, and its restoration, 527.
Jew, sketch of the history of the, [728].
Juancho the Bull-fighter, 197.
Judaism in the Legislature, [724].
Judgment of Paris, Rubens', 571.
Jukes, J. B., his Narrative of the Voyage of the Fly reviewed, 515.
Kinkel's History of Early Christian Art, review of, 446.
Lander, Richard, 516.
Larig Water, 164.
Law of Wreck, the, 93.
Legislature, Judaism in the, [724].
Leichhardt's researches in Australia, review of, 602.
Le Premier Pas, 312.
Letter from a Railway Witness in London, 68.
Letters on the Truths contained in Popular Superstitions. No. VII.—Objects to be gained by the artificial induction of trance, 166.
Life of Jean Paul Frederick Richter, review of, 33.
Lima, boundary of, 17.
London, Letter from a Railway Witness in, 68.
Lowe, Sir Hudson, 180.
Lui Water, 154.
Luque, Father, one of Pizarro's comrades, 5.
Maga in America, 422.
Magus Muir, 614.
Manco, Inca of Peru, 17.
Mar Forest, the, 154.
Marie Louise, Letter from Gourgaud to, 181.
Marseilles, town of, [711].
Masorcha Club at Buenos Ayres, a tale of the, Chap. I. 47
Chap. II. 48
Chap. III. 50
Chap. IV. 55
Chap. V. 62.
Massacre of Glencoe, the, [700].
Materials for a History of Oil Painting, Eastlake's, review of, 301.
Mayenne, Theodore de, work by, on Painting, 304.
Memoirs of Viscountess Sundon, review of, 431.
Merrifield, Mrs, translation of Cennino Cennini, by, 309.
Mexico, Conquest of, by Spain, 1.
Meynell, Henry, a tale, 547.
Miltiades, investigation of history of, 145.
Milton, 415.
Miner, the, a tale, 97.
Mirabeau, 417.
Mitford's Greece, character of, 129.
Montholon's Napoleon at St Helena, review of, 178.
Mosses from an Old Manse, review of, 587.
Muich Dhui, ascent and scenery of, 153.
Munzer, the anabaptist, 385.
My Friend the Dutchman, 494.
Napoleon at St Helena, Montholon's History of, reviewed, 178.
Napoleon, Death scene of, 194;
his character, 195.
Navarro the Bandit, [714].
Navigation of the Antipodes, the, 515.
Navy, Nicolas' History of the, reviewed, 82.
Navy of Athens, Pæans of the, No. I. [736].
Nevis, Ben, ascent and scenery of, 149.
New Guinea, 332.
New Ireland, character of inhabitants of, 331.
Ney, Marshal, Napoleon's statement regarding the last acts of, 187.
Nicolas' History of the Navy, review of, 82.
November Morning's Reverie, a, by Delta, 618.
Oil Painting, Eastlake's History of, reviewed, 301.
O'Meara, connexion of, with Napoleon, 180.
Only a Fiddler, Andersen's, reviewed, 403.
O. T., Andersen's, reviewed, 405.
Our Currency, our Trade, and our Tariff, [744].
Pacific, Islands of the, 327.
Pæans of the Athenian Navy, No. I.;
Phormio's Victory in the Corinthian Gulf, [736].
Park, Mungo, 515.
Pau, Sketches of, [719].
Pauperism, management of, 630.
Peel, Sir Robert, and the Currency, 113, [744].
Peru, Sketches of conquest of, 1.
Phormio, Naval Victory of, in the Corinthian Gulf, [736].
Pizarro, Conqueror of Peru, Sketches of, 1.
Pizarro, Pedro, brother of the conqueror, 3.
Poe's Sketches and Tales, review of, 582.
Poetry—Cæsar, 235;
a Requiem, by Delta, 358;
Song for the Dalhousie Dinner, 493;
Magus Muir, 614;
a November Morning's Reverie, 618;
the Widow of Glencoe, [700];
Pæans of the Athenian Navy, No. 1, [741].
Pomfret, Lady, 441.
Popular Superstitions, Letters on the Truths contained in, Letter VII.;
objects to be gained by the Artificial Induction of Trance, 166.
Portrait, the, a tale abridged from the Russian of Gogol, by T. B. Shaw;
Chap. I. 457
Chap. II. 475.
Premier Pas, Le, 312.
Prescott's History of the Conquest of Peru, review of, 1.
Protestantism, Effects of, in England, [724].
Puna, Conquest of island of, by Pizarro, 11.
Pyrenees, the, [707].
Raffles, Sir Stamford, 526.
Railway, Probable Effects of, on India, 517.
Railway Witness, Letters from a, in London, 68.
Railways, the, in connexion with the financial depression, 777.
Reformation, Effects of the, in England, [724].
Reid and the Philosophy of Common Sense, 239.
Requiem, for the music of Mozart, by Delta, 358.
Research and Adventure in Australia, 602.
Richard Cœur de Lion, fleet of, 90, 91.
Richter, Jean Paul, Life of, 33.
Roman Dogs, 489.
Rome, Hounds and Horses at: the English Kennel, 485
the Steeple Chase, 487
Roman Dogs, 489.
Rome, Taxidermy in, 292.
Rome, Valedictory Visits at, 622
the Villa Borghese, ib.
the Villa Albani, 626.
Roussillon, province of, [722].
Rubens—was he a Colourist? 564.
Ruiz, Bartholomew, one of Pizarro's comrades, 6.
St Helena, Napoleon at, 178.
Sea, Evenings at—See Evenings.
Sharp, Archbishop, murder of, 615.
Shaw, T. B., translation by, of the Portrait, a tale;
Chap. I. 457
Chap. II. 475.
Sieyes, Anecdotes of, 190, 191.
Sims' Wigwam, &c., review of, 575.
Sinnett's Byways of History, review of, 347.
Sir Robert Peel and the Currency, 113.
Smuggling in Spain, [717].
Solon, era of, in Greece, 143.
Song for the Dalhousie Dinner, 493.
Solo, Hernando de, 12.
Sourabaya, city of, 525.
South America, Adventures on coast of, 323.
South America, Spanish conquest in, 1.
Spain, conquests of, in South America, 1.
Spain, sketches of, [707].
Spain, History of the Jew in, [730].
Speedy, capture of the Gamo by the, 84.
Stair, Master of, and the Massacre of Glencoe, [700]-1.
Steeple chase at Rome, the, 487.
Stone of Shelter, the, 158, 160.
Story of my Life, Andersen's, review of, 393.
Student of Bologna, the; Chap. I. 359
Chap. II. 361
Chap. III. 365
Conclusion, 369.
Suffolk, Lady, 439, 440.
Sumatra, island of, 528.
Tacamez, defeat of Pizarro at, 7.
Tale of the Masorcha Club at Buenos Ayres, a;
Chap. I. 47
Chap. II. 48
Chap. III. 50
Chap. IV. 55
Chap. V. 62.
Tariff, the new, in connexion with the commercial depression, [759].
Tales from Denmark, Andersen's, reviewed, 406.
Taxidermy in Rome, 292.
Tettenborn, General, rise of, 312.
Theophilus, work on Varnishes, &c., by, 303.
Thirlwall's Greece, character of, 129
on the siege of Troy, Homer, &c., 137, 138.
Thompson's Memoirs of Viscountess Sundon, review of, 431.
Three Months at Gaza, 334.
Tiberius, 411.
Times of George II., the, 431.
Torres Straits, surveying voyage through, 518.
Tournachou, M., tale from, 317.
Trance, objects to be gained by artificial induction of, 166.
Travels, modern, general character of, [707].
Troy, authenticity of the siege of, 136, 137.
Turkey, Napoleon's views on, 189.
Unpublished French novel, an, [671].
Units: Tens: Hundreds: Thousands:
Chap. I. 593
Chap. II. ib.
Chap. III. 595
Chap. IV. 596
Chap. V. 599
Chap. VI. 601.
Vaerst, Baron, Die Pyrenaën, review of, [707].
Valbezene, M., 102.
Valedictory Visits at Rome, 622
the Villa Borghese, ib.
the Villa Albani, 626.
Van Eyck, Eastlake on the invention of, 302.
Views and Reviews of American Literature, review of, 575.
Villa Borghese, the, 622; Albani, 626.
Vision of Cagliostro, the, 408;
Tiberius, 411;
Agrippa, 413;
Milton, 415;
Mirabeau, 417;
Beethoven, 419.
Voltaire, residence of, in England, 444.
W. E. A., Magus Muir, by, 614;
Widow of Glencoe, [700].
Waleska, Madame, anecdote of, 191.
Widow of Glencoe, the, [700].
William the Conqueror, landing of, 90.
William III. and the Massacre of Glencoe, [700].
Wolfian theory of the Iliad, the, 140.
Works of Hans Christian Andersen, the, 387.
Wreck, law of, 93.
END OF VOL. LXII.
Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Essays. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Nature, an Essay, and Orations. By the same.
[2] Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel.
[3] Die Pyrenäen. Von Eugen Baron Vaerst. Zwei Bände: Breslau, 1847.