would, no doubt, become an especial favorite at the India House. Unfortunately, however, his valour is much more prominent than his discretion; and though he has contrived to select some authorities in favour of the principles which he professes to support, he has also in pure unconsciousness appended the documents which refute them, and furnished, in a compact, accessible shape, the evidence on which we have always rested the wisdom and expediency of extending our relations with the Eastern world. One would hardly have expected to find, stitched together in an octavo pamphlet of eighty-eight pages, the testimony of Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, on the immutability of the Hindoos, and the official account of goods exported from the United Kingdom to the East Indies, China, and the Mauritius, from the year 1814 to 1828. But so it is, and as long as the poison and the antidote are sold together, it is not very likely that much mischief will be done.

'As I have before observed,'* says he,' from the clamour raised regarding free trade, persons uninformed on the subject, would imagine that the public are totally excluded from the benefit of any intercourse with the East Indies; whereas, in fact, the trade of private merchants on an average exceeds that of the Company, in extent and value; which fact induces me to conclude my observations with an account of a few important items of the exports and imports between Great Britain, and India, and China, from the year 1814 to 1828, distinguishing the Company's from the private trade. It will probably serve not only to establish the truth of what I have advanced, but prove interesting, as giving some insight into the state of our Indian trade, during an important period, when and in what articles an increased or decreased demand has occurred, and the proportion of private trade compared with that of the Company.'-p. 76.

Now we doubt not that Mr. Playfair is perfectly sincere in his desire to extend the knowledge of persons uninformed upon the subject,' and is actuated by a laudable anxiety to communicate to them a portion of the astonishment which these novel discoveries have excited in his own mind. To him, indeed, every thing seems new. The evidence of Mr. Pitt, of Warren Hastings, and Lord Teignmouth, is cited with as much solemnity and ostentation, as if it had been given during the present session of Parliament: then come Sir John Malcolm, and Sir Thomas Munro; and lastly, the statistical data which furnish such irrefragable proof of the misstatements and errors of them all. It is fit that Mr. Playfair should know that the increase of exports since 1814, to which he refers as convincing testimony of the liberality and patriotism of the Hon. Company, was brought about by agitation,' precisely similar to that on which he now takes upon himself to pronounce his

* Page 76.

unqualified condemnation. Previously to the last renewal of the Charter, the ports of India were open to the shipping of every nation but England. The French, Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Portuguese, Americans, had all carried on a lucrative commerce with our Eastern Territories. The advantage derived by these nations naturally excited the jealousy of our merchants, and petitions from all parts of the country, for free admission to the Indian trade, were presented to parliament. In opposition to this just and reasonable demand, the gentlemen in Leadenhall Street sent regiments of witnesses to Westminster, all prepared to attest the superstition and misery of the Hindoos; some protesting that they were too poor to purchase our manufactures; others, that if we distributed them gratuitously, they would not wear them; all affirming the immutability of their habits, the peculiarity of their climate, and the prejudices of their religion. Though the House of Commons is said to have been electrified by the statement of Sir Thomas Munro, a gentleman who had enjoyed ample opportunities of observation, of unimpeached character and honour, yet the story was too marvellous for implicit belief, and the legislature determined to submit his theories to the test of experiment. In 1813, English merchandize ceased to be contraband at the three presidencies and Penang. What was the result? From 1814 to 1819, the increase of exports was so rapid and extensive, that when Mr. Grant was examined before the Committees of the two Houses in 1820-21, he could find no explanation for a phenomenon so unexpected, but commercial indiscretion,' from the effects of which he confidently foretold the ruin of the adventurers. Spite of the prediction the trade went on, every year increased its amount, and confirmed its prosperity, until, in 1828, the export of British goods by the private trade to India alone, exceeded that of their chartered rivals to all the countries east of the Cape of Good Hope. Is it to be borne, that an argument for the continuance of the Monopoly should rest upon such facts as these? Shall we be told that the people of the interior will not use what the inhabitants along the coast have purchased with avidity? Is disinclination to be inferred from eagerness of demand, or commercial indiscretion,' from annual increase? Is it pretended that the inhabitants of the islands in the Eastern Archipelago, are prejudiced against the use of foreign manufactures? or that the cottons of Manchester, the woollens of Leeds, or the hardware of Birmingham, are not suited to their taste? Are not British goods annually shipped in the Mersey and the Thames, and conveyed in American bottoms to Canton? These are the questions on which the policy of renewing the East India Company's Monopoly depends; and Mr. Playfair will find them answered much more satisfactorily in the Reports of the Committees of both Houses in 1821, than by any of the antiquated documents to which his researches have been confined.

It is true,' says Mr. Playfair, the word "Monopoly" sounds

harshly on a British ear, without some qualification; it is therefore necessary, in the first instance, to consider the extent to which the term is applicable in a commercial sense. As all vessels are now permitted to trade with the different ports in India without restriction, the Monopoly so far has ceased to exist. The China trade alone remaining exclusively in the Company's hands, must therefore constitute the imaginary grievance. But what is this Monopoly? Certainly,' he continues, it is a grant, from which arise some of the most valuable resources of the Company, because no political expenses interfere with them. But is this benefit confined to that body alone? On the contrary, from the duties payable on this branch of trade, England derives an annual revenue, amounting, on an average, to four millions sterling, without any trouble or expense to Government in its collection. How valuable a consideration is it, in viewing this subject, to find the great benefit, in fact, which the Monopoly has proved to this country; for it must be remembered, that the East India Company alone have made the China trade what it is. The great prudence at all times observed by the civil authorities at Canton, their knowledge of the peculiar character and prejudices of the Natives, acquired by long observation, combined with uniform integrity of dealing on the part of the Company, have gradually established a mutual confidence, and formed a connecting chain, so delicately wrought, that injury to a single link might, in a moment, put a stop to all commercial intercourse; and those powers, already jealous of our present good footing, would not fail to take advantage of such an event; and we might then in vain desire re-possession of this Monopoly, gladly again to place it in the hands of the East India Company, through whose good judgment and perseverance the trade has been rendered so beneficial. To those who view the subject in its full extent, I think this must be obvious: it is not, however, uncommon to meet with persons, who form an opinion upon no stronger ground than the circumstance of tea bearing a high price; that, at all risks, the trade should be thrown open, solely in the hope that they may obtain tea a few pence per pound cheaper, forgetting that the hope, in the first place, probably would not be realized by an open trade, which, on the contrary, might cause an advance in price: and the regulations now observed by the Company for the supply of genuine tea, being dispensed with, that the community would be liable to be poisoned wholesale; at how cheap a rate this might be done, I cannot imagine any one desirous to ascertain. I presume many persons are not aware that, on all tea imported by the East India' Company, a duty is paid in the first instance to Government of nearly a hundred per cent., and that the profits of intermediate dealers are considerable; so that, by the time it is distributed for public consumption, the price is necessarily high. The regulations contained in the Act of Parliament regarding the sale of tea by the Company, prove that they are compelled to bring it into the market under

established rule, and at no higher rate than a moderate profit on the capital employed,-in reality, having nothing to do with the price it afterwards attains among retail dealers; which, if a serious evil, rather becomes a question of consideration with his Majesty's Government, whether any, and what, reduction can be made in the present excessive duty, and if, under a less duty, an increased sale might be calculated upon, as is the case with other articles of consumption; his Majesty's Ministers, in all probability, would not be disinclined to reduce it to a rate which would still ensure a great revenue to the country, yet afford a general benefit to society, tea being now almost regarded as a necessary of life; at all events, I doubt not that Government hold the national welfare as too intiinately concerned in an amicable intercourse between China and this country, to disturb the good understanding which now fortunately exists, or to attempt making any material change in that particular part of the Charter."

We do not remember to have met a paragraph distinguished for so little candour, and so much mis-statement, as the foregoing extract. 'All restrictions on the trade to India,' says Mr. Playfair, ' are now removed, and the China Monopoly is an imaginary grievance.' Is Mr. Playfair so ignorant of the course of trade, as not to know that the mere power of exporting manufactured goods is utterly valueless, unless return cargoes can be obtained? Did he never hear of the traffic in furs formerly carried on by the North West Company at Canton, and by them abandoned to the Americans, merely on account of the prohibition to ship China produce? Is he not aware that the cotton, the rice, the sugar, the tobacco, of India are all inferior to the produce of America, and consequently almost unsaleable in the English markets? If Mr. Playfair were ignorant of these facts, he ought not to lecture us on East Indian commerce. The truth is, that the China Monopoly, though in itself sufficiently vexatious, inasmuch as it deprives our manufacturers of the consumption of that populous empire, has indirectly the effect of restricting our intercourse with all the countries east of the Cape of Good Hope. The Americans ship hardware, cottons, and woollens in the port of Liverpool, or London : with these they proceed to the Eastern islands, and barter a portion of our manufactures for such articles of their produce as are suited to the Chinese market. At Canton a second exchange takes place, and they return to Europe laden with the produce of the Celestial Empire. Our mariners, on the other hand, having once doubled the Cape, proceed to Bengal. or Bombay. If these markets should not furnish the opportunities of advantageous sale, their cargoes must be transferred to the country ships, and by them taken to the Archipelago and China. The productions of these countries are brought to the Indian Presidencies; and some small portion of them may perhaps find their way to Europe by this circuitous and expensive navigation. It is true that British vessels may sail to the Eastern Archipelago direct, as well

as others; but as these islands do not furnish the materials of a return cargo, and the traffic in tea is prohibited, this lucrative branch of commerce is of necessity abandoned to the Americans.

'The connection between the China Monopoly and the free trade of the Eastern Islands and Cochin China, depends chiefly upon the fact, of which there is abundant evidence, that the products of those islands, though very valuable, are not suitable to any European market, or indeed to any other extensive market, than that of China. Although, therefore, there appears among the Malays a considerable demand, capable of much extension, for British manufactures (especially cotton goods, iron and steel, copper and woollens), no sufficient returns can be procured for these articles, otherwise than by way of China, or perhaps of Bengal, with a view to re-exportation to China, where the inland produce may be exchanged for merchandize re-exportable to Europe. The exportation, therefore, of our manufactures to these islands, is greatly impeded by the want of a return, which nothing but a permission to seek it at Canton can ensure. *

The next proposition of Mr. Playfair is, that the present high price of tea is not attributable to the Monopoly of the Company, but to the duty imposed upon it by the Government. Now, if tea were an article of mere luxury, and the consumption of it confined to the affluent classes, the difference of a few shillings in the price, might be admitted to be an object of minor consideration. If, again, it were of an intoxicating quality, like spirits or opium, and injurious to the health and morals of the people, there might be some pretence for keeping up its price, by the double imposition of monopoly and taxation. But neither of these suppositions is true. Probably there is not a single family in England, from the highest to the lowest, in which tea would not be daily consumed, were it not for the exorbitant rate at which it is sold. The use of the worst descriptions is, in fact, a costly luxury to the great majority of the people; and it were idle to deny, that the middle orders of society abstain from the enjoyment of the better varieties. The duties levied by Government, are, no doubt, considerable restraints upon consumption; but is Mr. Playfair not aware that these duties are ad valorem,' and, consequently, rise and fall with the Company's prices? The Government,' says he, may lower the duty, and thus give ease to the consumers.' The Government know very well that such reduction would not relieve the people while the Company's Monopoly continues. So long as competition is excluded, it is their interest to maintain the price, and the substitution of a fixed, to the present fluctuating, duty, would not, in all probability, benefit the public. But be that as it may, the present high price of tea is attributable to the Monopoly

Vide a Report of a Committee of the House of Commons, 1820-21.