to talk, argue, and even debate on the most interesting subjects, with all the necessary fluency; and indeed, as far as I have observed, this is the most general mode of forming our politicians, for it will be found that most people's sentiments on these matters are just those of the newspaper they happen to read. It is an old proverb that teaches us to judge of people's characters by the company they keep; but I know not whether as good a criterion might not be found in the newspapers they take in. This fact sets in a striking point of view the position I am endeavouring to establish; by shewing the great importance of the periodical press, and, consequently, the heavy responsibility the conductors of it incur in the discharge of their office. In truth, there is perhaps no situation which enables an individual to do more good, or to effect more mischief, than that of the editor of a newspaper. He wields an instrument of gigantic power-a lever that may move a world! If from the sordid love of gain, or the more mischievous spirit of faction, he endeavours by crafty arts, insidious representations, or false statements, to excite the passions, blind the understandings, or pervert the sentiments of his readers, he is criminal in no small degree, and may justly be considered as the pest of the society to which he belongs; but if, actuated by the love of truth, he impartially discloses what he believes a fact-if he admits nothing into his columns that would tend to engender faction or discontent-if he treats with becoming respect the important concerns of religion and government, and makes his paper a vehicle for useful information on every topic connected with them, then is he honourably fulfilling the duties of his calling, and unquestionably deserves the countenance and approbation of every well-wisher to his country. In all this there is nothing to preclude his free and unbiassed remarks on whatever may occur worthy of them; and indeed to manage the concerns of such a work with dignity and effect, it is necessary that the editor should be perfectly independent. This is a character, to which I know, a certain class of editors lay exclusive claim. With peculiar modesty they arrogate to themselves that perfect freedom from restraint, which enables them to scrutinize the measures of government, and give their opinions on them impartially, which they yet deny to all others. But are they free from the influence of prejudice, the dominion of faction, and the spirit of party, which exercises as potent a spell on their conduct and sentiments as ever did the hope of a pension? I am convinced, that the most of those who are so clamorous about their independence, and who are so fond of imputing servility to all those who differ from them, are so bound by prejudice, party, or faction, as to be destitute of genuine and honourable independence as the veriest tools of an administration. Commend me to the man who can dare to blame, and is not afraid to approve, whatever his judgment tells him is deserving either praise or blame. But whether he approve or not, he will still shew himself the patriot, anxious to promote the happiness, and not too zealous to expose the misfortunes of his country. Her prosperity will be the theme of his exultation and honest pride, for his is not that pseudopatriotism, that delights to abstract from the fame, or snarl at the glory, of his native land. How different from all this is the conduct of some of our present journals, which one finds some difficulty in believing are edited by Englishmen ! They look more like the productions of some foreigners, to whom the greatness, the glory, and the happiness of Britain are wormwood! I shall conclude this long digression, by expressing my conviction, if you will allow me to do so, that this is far from being the character of the Sheffield Iris, or its editor; and that I never have occasion to see in its pages any thing inconsistent with the genuine independence, or the honest patriotism of a British subject. COSMOPOLITE. MINISTERIAL CHANGES. (From the Liverpool Courier.) We have changes in the Administration of England and France, and the Spanish mob clamour for the dismission of the Ministers of Ferdinand. Each of these demands some remark. The movements which have taken place in the British Cabinet involve no alteration in the policy of the Executive; and in this they probably differ from those which have taken place in France. One branch of the change respects Ireland; and, without meaning the slightest reflection upon the late administration there, believing it to have been a most virtuous, moderate, and dignified administration of Vice-royalty, we must express our selves decidedly convinced that it is not a steady and respectable march in the old track, which will meet the case of that country. The evils which really exist there are many, and they are of a nature which law cannot reach, because the true remedy would involve an interference with private property, which the freedom of our constitution and the laws of the land would not allow. To carry up the cause of the miseries which have either produced, or been the cover for, the atrocities which have been lately and at former periods perpetrated in that country, to the want of an equal sharing of political privileges among the Protestants and Catholics, is, in our view, egregious trifling. It is founded on a mere sentimentalism to which the majority of the peasantry are insensible, and may do well enough to turn a parliamentary period, but will neither make a potatoe more to grow, or enhance its value when grown. Suppose a more violent measure, the transfer of all property to natives and residents in Ireland; the peasantry would not be the better for that. An English landlord is not more severe to his tenants than an Irish landlord; we believe, generally speaking, less so, and that it is by native agents, and by those chiefly, that the weight of oppression is hurled, in its greatest accumulation, upon a suffering peasantry. What, then, is wanted? We answer, such a Vicegovernment as shall not be ever looking for palliatives, and applying itself to smooth the asperities of parties and to regulate toasts; things, about which a few hot-headed barristers may care, who, perhaps, have taken their full share in reducing the peasant, over whom their sentimentalism melts into abjectness, but for which the majority of the industrious classes care not at all-but a Vice-government which, uninfluenced by the alarms, and even clamours, of the proprietors, and the hordes of middle-men, supported in gentility by the bone and marrow, rather than the sweat of the cultiva tor, and too steady to be thrown out of the direct tract by the deceitful lure of Catholic emancipation, shall go the bottom of the evil, by careful examination of facts, and by a bold promulgation of them. Let them be stated in official documents; let them resound within the walls of Parliament; and, though law cannot compel a better system, shame and a good example may. It has been stated, for instance, in the public prints, and we copied the paragraph into our last, that the lands of an English proprietor are rented for £25,000 per annum, whilst he himself receives no more that £5,000, the rest going into the pockets of middle-men. Now, is this and similar statements true, or not? If this be any thing like the fact, it points out the remedy at once. Suppose the proprietor content with his £5,000 a-year; and suppose a steward. or middle-man, on the spot, to cost £2,000 a-year. (a pretty handsome sum for collecting rents and managing the concerns of an estate,) and the rest shared among an industrious people, by a lowering of their rents, now screwed up beyond all endurance: should we find the peasantry disposed to riot for Catholic emacipation, or for any thing else? We believe not. But if a proper and a patriotic system were introduced, the landlord might put £5,000a-year more into his pocket, and make his tenantry happy. Bet how is this to be done? We decidedly think, by a fearless Government fathoming, and drawing up into day and public observation, these deep and serious evils. That, if steadily pursued, would ultimately effect it, and effect it, too, in the most permanent manner. We see no reason, also, why the proprietors of Irish property should not endeavour the improvement of the people in another way. Why should not schools be established throughout the country, which, without interfering with the religious principles of the people, leaving them entirely under the instruction, in other things, of their priests, should put them in possession of the elements of learning, and raise them above that semi-barbarous state in which they have so long remained? This also ought to be urged upon the proprietors of land, and these and other duties placed before them, by a bold and decided Administration, until either shame or some better principle leads to a measure of amelioration. We may hope much from the administration of the Marquis Wellesley. His government of India stands as a noble proof of the genius and boldness of his conceptions rising above the region of prejudice, and yet grounding themselves upon the immutable principles of truth and justice; and we heartily wish that his administration of Ireland may redound equally to his fame as a statesman, and entitle him, as in India, to the gratitude of future generations. Of the other Cabinet changes we augur well, as they will unite two parties, who agree so substantially in all questions of general policy, that it has been a matter of regret, that they have been so long separated. The continued absence of one talented individual from the Administration we, and the country at large, we believe, regret. We are pursuaded that his reasons are honourable to himself, though we are pretty sure that they will not bear that version into which faction has translated them. But, whatever department of state may suffer for want of Mr. Canning's great talents, application, and the high principles which he never fails to take into office with him; of this the country is sufficiently assured, that he will not fail to fight her battles and seek her true interests, in his place in Parliament. Of the change in the French Ministry, it is yet uncertain whether it has not rather been the result of intrigue, a mere play of parties, or whether it rests on any great public principles, and connects itself with any new line of policy. This, however, cannot long be doubtful. NEW SOURCES OF FOREIGN TRADE.- (From the Glasgow Courier.) THE more we consider the evidence taken before the legislature regarding the foreign trade of this country, the more we are gratified at the commercial information therein given, and the more the country is indebted to the present administration for the very proper manner in which they have taken up and investigated this busi ness. The data they have obtained cannot fail to lead to the most important and beneficial regulations, and to secure the immediate extension and future prosperity of our trade. To the eastern world we ought to look for the accomplishment of our hopes and wishes on this head. The new world can only be rendered greatly serviceable when connected with a trade to China, India, and the Indian Archipelago. The population in those parts which covet, or would covet, our manufactures, as soon as they become acquainted with them, exceeds 400 millions-nay, a greater number, for, we may say, all Asia and its isles eagerly look after them. The field, therefore, is immense, and the returns are not only articles of the most valuable description, but such as our manufacturers particularly require. In the East Indies, the demand for and sale of our cotton manufactures, continue to increase. To the opening of that trade is to be attributed the knowledge which the nations have acquired of them. It is only within the last three years that these have become known in China, where they were received from the overstocked markets of India. The moment they arrived they were readily sold at "a considerable profit—a profit of importance." Cochin China also is a country amazingly populous, and which, being of the same manners, have the same wants as the Chinese. At present, however, it is little known, and must continue so to Great Britain, because only small vessels of 150 to 200 tons can approach the coasts with safety, until these become better known. The East India Company's ships are from 1000 to 1400 tons burthen, & no other British merchant ships are allowed to approach these parts. The Malay trade, a name given by the Americans to all the trade carried on in the seas east of India, is well The three Reports of the Committee of the House of Commons on the Trade and Commerce of the Country, which we have nearly completed in our Appendix to this Number of The Constitutional Guardian, constitute a series of nationally important documents; and will, we are confident, at the present time and in future, in conjunction with the other papers which we shall continue regularly to insert, form a most valuable volume of reference to the historian and the politician. known to be very lucrative. These countries produce in abundance the raw materials used in our manufactures, such as silk and cotton, a considerable quantity of which is also consumed in their internal manufactures. For the European and American markets, Cochin China produces cotton, raw silk, gold, &c. and the eastern isles supply coffee, pepper, rice, various spices, sugar, tortoiseshell, mother of pearl, various gums, ivory, camphor, cassia, cinnamon, musk, some gold, &c. Amongst the articles chiefly wanted in those parts, and which we could readily supply, are iron (there is none in the Indian seas) crystal, glass ware, carriages, &c. From their cheapness, the British manufactures would supersede those of China in all the eastern world. The Chinese carry on an extensive trade with those parts. Of the extent thereof some idea may be formed, when we are told that there are 40,000 Chinese, from the maritime provinces of that empire, resident in Java, all of whom are engaged in mercantile affairs. The whole trade of China is in the hands of the Hong merchants. This is a body consisting of ten merchants, with powers and privileges similar to our East India Company. Without their advice the Chinese government does nothing in mercantile concerns. Their support might easily be obtained. Interest would prompt them. Our trade in various branches of the cotton and woollen manufactures might be greatly extended in China, because by means of water conveyance, so general throughout that empire, all these articles could be carried into the interior and northern provinces, where they are much sought after, at two-thirds less expense than they can be obtained through Russia. Thus at Kiatchka, what cos's here 2s. or 28. 2d. is sold there for 8s. or 98. The same could be landed at Canton for 3s. Experience has shewn that gold and silver may be too dearly bought, and these metals are not the most valuable articles in course of trade. In every country these bear a high value. Bartering one commodity for another, particularly the manufactured for the raw material, will, in the present state of commercial relations with the castern-we may say with every quar ter of the world, be found the most profitable and eligible exchange. Thus, in the fur trade carried on by the Americans from the north-west coast to Canton, to dispose of these furs for specie, and to barter them for Chinese produce, according to the evidence of Mr. Ellice, makes a difference in China of 25 per cent. in favour of the latter mode, besides the profit which would be obtained upon those Chinese articles in the European or American market. It is to this trade by barter, that we look for the greatest extension of our commerce in all those parts of the world, and which can only render South America, particularly Lima and Chili, advantageous thereto. Thus, a vessel going round Cape Horn may adapt all or part of her cargo to the latter markets, from whence she obtains in return for so much of her cargo as is disposed of, copper and specie, abundant in these places, and the first of which articles is particularly valuable in the Indian and Chinese markets. On specie the profit is great, even from the difference of exchange. In Chili the dollar is 4s. to 4s. 6d,; but in Calcutta, by the exchange, it is worth 5s. 6d. With this specie cargoes can be bought in Canton and in India to suit the British, European, and American markets; nay, even such cargoes as will suit Chili and Lima, should the vessel return by these places, though certainly the least profitable route. Besides, a great trade, partly in specie, and partly by barter, (the latter greatest,) can be, and is, carried on by vessels going from South America to Calcutta, with all the numerous islands which lie betwixt these places. From Buenos Ayres and Chili alone, the capital already annually employed in this trade to the eastern world, is about £300,000. exclusive of the proceeds arising from the sales of British goods in the former places, and which may be and are employed in the same trade. The trade from Peru will become much more valuable than that from either, or from both of the viceroyalties mentioned. In this manner British commerce can be, is and will be opened and extended by our merchant ships rounding the world. This, when once the trade is fairly established, and the winds and seasons known and attended to, may be accomplished in fifteen or eighteen months. At present however, no British ships of less burthen than 350 tons can go into this trade, except to India direct, without a licence from the Board of Controul, or the East India Company. Till such restrictions are completely removed, the independence of South America, particularly the south-west coasts thereof, can be of little advantage to our trade, compared to what may be carried on when the east is laid open. The East India Company take no share, and wish to take no share, or have any concern with the trade we have been contemplating. The absurdity, therefore, by unwise regulations, of forcing this trade out of British into foreign hands, is self evident. Nothing can shew the absurdity of those regulations and the loss which the country sustains by them, in a stronger point of view than the following fact, drawn from the evi dence of Captain Powell, of the Eliza, a vessel formerly employed as a Berwick smack. This vessel went from Rio de Janiero to New South Shetland, where she arrived on the 29th November, and left it the 7th January following, during which period the crew caught 18,000 seals. The skins were brought to the London market, as the master was forced to do, where they were sold for 4s. 9d. each skin, while American schooners, which were fishing alongside, carried their seal skins to Canton, where they brought four dollars each in barter, and from their proceeds a cargo would be obtained, which in America or in Europe would yield perhaps 100 per cent. additional profit. Volumes written upon this subject could not better shew the necessity of abolishing the restrictions, which fetter British subjects and British capital in all those parts of the world, than the bare mention of this single fact. We had made extracts from numerous other Prints, equally interesting with the foregoing; but we are this month compelled to omit them. We shall in future Numbers devote a much more considerable space to this department. THE LONDON WHIG AND RADICAL NEWSPAPERS, WITH SPECIMENS OF THEIR LOYALTY, SAPIENCE, AND PATRIOTISM!!! SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS, and particularly the ExAMIER'S common Dose of silly Deism on the Christian Sabbath. (Dec. 2, and the preceding Sunday.) WE sit down to this department of our Work with pain and loathsomeness. It is one, indeed, which requires more temper than talent. Our modern infidels and blasphemers are so despicable as reasoners; so thread-bare in their old and fifty-fold refuted trash; their poison, like the plague, comes in such mere rags of flimsy and worn-out assertion, that we seem to be called to this part of our duty as to the abodes of pestilence and infection. But we will do little more than put the lable on these phials of poison. That is safeguard enough, without tasting a grain of the arsenick, the rat's bane, on our table. At present we have one to stick on the Examiner. No longer does this gossip in metaphysical whimpering, in a certain sickly softness of sentiment, which is about as suitable to Old England as a pair of laced ruffles would be to a boatswain of a man of war; no longer does it condescend to concealment as to its infidelity, or care for a merely constructive imputation of hostility to our faith. We can hardly now call it sly and insidious, cautious and indirect. In truth, if misnomers were indistinguishably libellous, we might be answerable in some shape for classing it among the Christian publications of the day. Pagan or Mahometan were its more appropriate designation; such as we should conceive its conductors would the more consistently approve of. For with all their artifice to conceal their idol Deism under this heathen lumber, and with all their affectation of philosophical_indifference, we may assert, that Paganism or Mahometanism are never brought forward with any other view than to throw discredit on Christianity. Observances and opinions, which acuter Infidels have uniformly reprobated and rejected for their fraud and their absurdity, are, (we should |