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V j earnest into the consideration of a inst itution , fitted for their present wants . The deliberation of their diets have always been noted for their slowness ; and the varietv of interests to he consulted will probably make their present a work of great difficulty . The King of Wurtemburgh , ane of Buonaparte ' s kings , still keeps at variance with his subjects . Their dissentions tend however to promote a spirit of
inquiry aiuong the neighbouring states . ; and it is evident that they will no longer be governed in their former despotic manner . Their nobility must consent to consider themselves men , and their distinctions , which have long been held in c 6 ntempt , will no longer serve to separate them from the great body of their countrymen . Prussia has not yet obtained a
constitution , but the courage of their Landwehr will in due time procure it . The legislature of the Netherlands is employed on a very important object , namely , to Feconcile together the interests of commerce , manufactures and finance .
As the greater part of this nation was at one time commercial in a very high degree , it may be supposed to be well acquainted with every circumstance relative to trade ; and thence we may derive lessons by which this country may be much benefited . Here we have an interest , lately much
talked of , namely , the agricultural interest , ami its policy has been seen in that very injudicious measure , the Corn Bill . With a view to bolster up its own interest , the landholders forgot their real situation , namely , that their wealth and importance depend on the flourishing state of our commerce and manufactures , and that cheapness of provisions is essential to their success . A landholder from a false view
of his own interest looks to the dearness of provisions as his summum bontim ; thence he conceives that his rents will be increased , and that he will enjoy increasing prosperity , but his view of the subject is fallacious : all the ^ advantages of commerce and manufactures ultimately tend to the profit of the land owner ; his lands are
better tilled , and are thence capable of proving him a greater rent . If he is content to derive this advantage in the proper manner , then all parties flourish ; but if he ooks to his own aggrandizement merely , he injures himself and all parties . Without commerce and manufactures the land fall to it
^ 11 what was a few centuries back , ten or twelve years purchase , the roads * ul be unfrequented , the canals dry : every ^ wiU stagnate . A few landholders | ay construe in sullen luxury the produce their estates on their own backs and ^ » and those of needy dependents , but jpur to industry and improvement will ^ Besides , the term agricultural in-
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terest is very much misunderstood with us . In conversing with the people , who are fond of using this term , it is easily discovered that they mean only the interest of the land owners , not of the cultivators of the land : but the latter are the true a < rriculturists , and the land owner stands to them exactly in the same situation , as what is called the monied does to the
mercantile interest . I he report , which is now in circulation , proceeding from the board of agriculture , must be read therefore with great caution . It is under the direction not of agriculturists , but of land owners ; and the latter are little calculated to understand the complicated interests of suchl a kingdom as ours . A land owner talks of
ruin when his rents are lowered , not recollecting that during the late war those rents had been raised out of all proportion to the profits of the other classes of society ; and if he has derived for many years a very great advantage over his countrymen , it does not become him to grumble when the change of the times reduces him nearer to
his pristine situation . How many are there in this class of life , who , by prudently applying the inordinate profits of the late years , have so increased their estates , that , if they were now let at the rate they went at before the war , still from the accumulation of land their yearly income will be increased doubly , trebly an ^ more . But we shall be curious to see in what manner the
great question is settled by the legislature of the Netherlands . We may persist , if the land owners please , for they are the legislators of this country , in pursuing their misunderstood interest . We may keep up the price of bread , but it must be recollected that other nations are not bound
by our decisions . I he road to commerce and manufactures is open to them , and they will not fail to avail themselves of it . Providence has supplied checks to imprudent and inordinate desires . We have been highly favoured . If we giv £ up the
advantages which industry ^ will procure us , we shall only afford to the world another example , that riches make to themselves win ^ s and fly away . Commerce and manufactures dwell only in those countries , where they are duly protected and held in honour .
The Americans are making claims on the Court of Naples for property which had been seized under the late regime , and it is said that they will be content , by way of compensation , with some island , which will afford them a secure harbour for their ships and a good depot for their commodities . This xnay occasion a new era in the commerce of the Mediterranean . We have
the island of Malta , which is highly |> enc * ficinl to us , and the Americans will look to similar advantage ? from a port of the saiuv
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State of Public Affairs . 56 3
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1816, page 563, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2456/page/63/
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