metrical quintal, the lowest price at which our forge-masters could sell it. In the mean time the English, on their side, unknown to us, discovered and perfected the mode of employing pit-coal, and using it in the smelting of iron ores. This advantage, joined to that which they always enjoyed of an abundance of iron ores, was such, that when commercial intercourse was opened, it was found that the English could supply our markets with wrought iron at 21 francs the metrical quintal, nearly sixty per cent less than that at which our ironmasters could produce it in France. It would undoubtedly happen that the inevitable effect of this so great difference of price between the foreign and domestic produce would be to us the cessation and total abandonment, without chance of restoration, of the whole of the iron manufacture of France, the ruin of thousands of families who had already applied themselves to that branch of industry, an enormous and sudden decline in the value of property in woods and forests; and altogether to throw into the balance of trade in favour of England the price of all the iron which might be consumed in France. To guard against such individual disasters, as well as so great a public loss, it became necessary that the produce of the English forges should not be allowed into our markets at a lower price than that of the forges of France. It was to this that the operation of the customs was directed. By means of an import duty of 27f. 50c. per quintal, this foreign iron could not * The value of the wood consumed in each year in the manufacture of iron has been valued at 30 millions of francs. come into the market under 48f. 50c. The same price, within three per cent at which the iron of France then was. This regulation was doubtless adopted in order not to make any change in the condition of the consumers, indeed rather to ameliorate it a little, and at the same time to stimulate the industry of the home manufacturer by giving him the alternative either of having this 3 percent taken from his pockets, or of finding means of producing, at a less expense, this article, which was especially necessary for the great interests of the country. The preservation of the national industry being thus guaranteed, and the trade fortified by the protecting duty, the manufacturers did direct their attention, as well to the improvement of the old process of working, as to enable themselves to use the new process. The quantity of wrought-iron, which had been only 800,000 quintals in 1818, in 1826 had risen to 14,000,000, and since then it has increased about 100,000 more. In the latter end of 1828 there were already in France fourteen blast-furnaces, worked like those of England with coke or pit-coal, and capable themselves alone of producing 800,000 quintals of iron. At the same period there were twelve other furnaces of this description building, and companies were forming for the establishment of a greater number. Within the last three or four years there have also been discovered in the departments of Gard and Aveyron, coal-pits of more or less extent, close to abundant strata of iron ore of excellent qualitv. We have reason to believe, that when the facility of conveyance by means of canals and railways shall have been added to the improvements and discoveries already made, the forges of France will produce a sufficient quantity, and at so reasonably low a price, as to put an end to the necessity of importation, at the same time that the artisan and consumer will have no cause to regret the low price of foreign iron. Under these considerations, and many others which have resulted from the inquiry, the commission, after mature deliberation, being unanimously convinced that the period has not yet arrived for abandoning the iron trade to itself, and for depriving it of the protection of the import duty, is of opinion that "for the present there should be no change made in the import duty upon iron, but that the tariff may be reduced one-fifth (20f. instead of 25f.) in the course of five years." same. As regards sugar, the state of the question is very nearly the The object in view was, to secure a preference in our markets to sugar grown in our own colonies, over that coming from those of other countries, and at the same time to take care that the very low price of either should not become an obstacle to the propagation and the progress of a branch of the national industry altogether new, and the creation of which arose from the continental blockade at a time when colonial sugar cost five or six times more in France than in any other country. We speak of the art of extracting sugar from beet-root, the first attempts at which did not, as will be remembered, make the fortunes of those who engaged in them, and were very far from promising what we have good grounds at present to expect, or indeed the success that has been already obtained. One of the manufacturers examined before the commission has stated, that the beet-root sugar which he sells in the market at 1 franc 20 centimes the kilogram, with a profit of eleven per cent, stood him in 5 francs in the year 1811, on which he was satisfied to sustain a loss of ten per cent. On the other hand, it appears from tables laid before the commission by the Minister of Commerce, that there are at present in France eighty-nine sugar factories, the produce of which may be estimated at 4,400,000 kilogrammes; that is to say, equal to about a fifth of the quantity of foreign sugar consumed in France. This industry, it is said in the exposé of the minister, makes this very moment, as well by the preparations which are making for the erection of new factories as by the adoption of new processes, an advance calculated to give a very rapid increase of production. But for this purpose it will be necessary that the duty should assist it for some years to come. The makers of native sugar insist, then, upon the keeping up of the present tariffs. Moreover, these manufacturers, admitting fully that beetroot sugar may and ought at some period to be taxed, maintain that to subject it at present to any duty whatever would be to ruin almost all the factories in existence, while it would, at the same time, prevent the creation of any new establishment. They also argue, that as long as we have colonies, it will be but justice to secure their produce a preference in our markets. To sum up, the commission of inquiry has come to this conclusion, that without at all diminishing the duty of 24f. 75c. upon the sugar of our own colonies, which raises their price on coming out of bond into the market to 71f. 75c. the quintal, the duty upon the sugar of foreign colonies has been fixed at 41f. 25c., so that they shall not be able to come into the market at less than 78f. 75c. per quintal. And with respect to the homemade sugar,-that from beet-root, while the just right to impose a duty upon it at some time or other, similar to that now imposed on wines, is not given up, the commission has thought fit to anticipate nothing in this respect; their wish is, that until an altered state of circumstances shall arise, the homemade sugar shall be free from all duty whatsoever. Thus the most important result of these branches of the inquiry will be, that for the present there is to be scarcely any change in the tariff of duties, and in the state of affairs, so far as iron and sugar are concerned. DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE regarding the Introduction of the PORTUGUESE CONSTITUTION. No. I.-Mr. Secretary CANNING No. II.-Sir CHARLES STUART to to Sir WILLIAM A'COURT. (Extract) Foreign-office, June 28, 1826. Although it is scarcely possible that the intelligence which has been received at Paris from Rio de Janeiro should not be already known at Lisbon, or at least should not arrive there before this packet, yet (to leave nothing to chance) I enclose to your excellency the copy of a despatch, received yesterday from his majesty's ambassador at Paris, enclosing the publication in the Moniteur of the act by which the emperor of Brazil abdicates the Crown of Portugal in favour of his daughter. In this act reference is made to another, by which his imperial majesty has given a constitution to the kingdom of Portugal. But of that act (whether it has not been received in France, or whether lord Granville has inadvertently omitted to forward it) I am not enabled to send you a copy. (Signed) GEORGE CANNING. His Excellency Sir Wm. A'Court, G.C.B., &c. Mr. Secretary CANNING. (Received July 7.) (Extract) Rio de Janeiro, April 30, 1826. His Imperial Majesty then talked of conciliating the affections of the Portuguese by giving them a constitutional charter; and, if the war should turn out unsuccessfully in the south, of obtaining military succour from Portugal, with a view to diminish the burthen, which is already severely felt in this country. My suspicion of the principles which such a charter might promulgate, induced me to point out the necessity of caution; saying, that if the mere convocation of the Cortes, who were the ancient and legitimate institution of the kingdom, was viewed with jealousy by Spain and France, what mischief might not be produced by a change, in which the Cortes had borne no part; and M. de Paranagua, who saw his majesty soon after, entered so fully into the spirit of this objection, that, for several days, no other constitutional system but Rio de Janeiro, April 30, 1826. The Council did not separate, on Friday, until they had determined upon a complete change of measures, since it was resolved that his imperial majesty should merely accept the Crown of Portugal for the purpose of giving to that kingdom a constitutional charter, suited to the circumstances of the times, and that, in the event of this charter being favourably received, and his eldest daughter given to the Infante Don Miguel, he should abdicate in her favour. I thought the consequences of this change too important to be passed over without comment, and I therefore waited upon his imperial majesty. I took the liberty of remarking to his majesty, that since he was reluctant to depend upon the ancient institutions of the country, by convoking the Cortes of Lamego, it was absolutely necessary to announce the constitutional changes which he meditated, in such a manner that they should not appear to emanate from the councils of his Brazilian advisers, and that I therefore hoped he would not wait for the meeting of the Chambers in Rio de Janeiro, to publish his decrees; adding, that although the same argument did not apply to the constitution, of which the tendency might be misinterpreted in Brazil, I implored him to bear in mind the possible hesitation of the people of Portugal to receive a boon, which should be calculated to involve them in disputes with their neighbours, and not to allow the constitution to transpire, before he should be certain that it had been accepted. His majesty said, that he appreciated the justice of my reasons for preferring the old institutions, of Portugal, but that however much I might admire those institutions, I must admit, that since they were not in every respect suited to the present day, some change must necessarily be introduced, and, this necessity once admitted, the Cortes would become a constituent body, subject to a thousand inconveniences which a charter could alone remove. He then produced his project of a constitution, already completed, to the compilation of which he had devoted the greater part of the week; and the joy with which he spoke of its contents shows, that the promulgation of this act is the principal inducement held out to him by his advisers, for the abdication of the Crown of Portugal. As it was impossible for me to look through so long a paper at that time, he told me, generally, that it established two Chambers, and that as it upheld the prerogatives of the sovereign, and the power of the nobility, he could not coincide in the fears which I seemed to entertain respecting its possible effect in other countries. He then proceeded to develope the plans, according to which his own abdication is conditional, and dependent upon the marriage of his daughter by proxy to the Infante Don Miguel, and upon the acceptance of the constitution. The regency is, in the first instance, confirmed, the amnesty published, and as soon as the three estates shall have taken the oaths to the new constitution, the queen will repair to Lisbon. After some altercation, his majesty promised to delay the publication of the Portuguese charter until it should have been accepted at Lisbon, whither he stated his wish to send these acts through my hands, as Portuguese plenipotentiary, since he considers them the complement of the treaty which I had signed for the separation of the two countries. I was somewhat startled by this mark of confidence, which I endeavoured to avoid, by expressing my doubts how far such a course might meet the approbation of my Court. As, however, he persisted in his determination, I replied that his request embarrassed me very much, since I was totally unprepared to take upon myself so heavy a responsibility; for that his imperial majesty might have observed, that in the course of the discussions upon this subject, I had not allowed myself to give an opinion which did not directly refer to the public acts approved by the king's government. Whatever may be the view taken by his majesty's ministers of the transactions detailed in this despatch, they are by no means committed by my language or my proceedings, under a total want of instructions, and they consequently remain at liberty to follow the course which they may consider expedient. (Signed) CHARLES STUART The Rt. Hon. Geo. Canning, &c. No. IV. Sir CHARLES STUART to Mr. Secretary CANNING. (Received July 7.) (Extract) Rio de Janeiro, May 1, 1826. The emperor sent for me, before he received the diplomatic corps this morning, for the purpose of telling me that the acts relative to the settlement of affairs in Portugal having been completed, he considered it a mark of respect to the memory of his father to request the plenipotentiary whom he had chosen to negociate the separation of the two countries, to perfect the work which had been so successfully commenced during his lifetime; adding, that when he had shown me, in my audience on the preceding day, the several papers which he had drawn up, he had fully opened his mind to me, and reposed in me a degree of confidence of which no other person could boast. I have the honour to enclose a copy of the full powers which his imperial majesty has been pleased to express his intention to intrust to me, and shall proceed to Lisbon on board the Diamond as soon as she can be got ready for sea. (Signed) CHARLES STUART. The Rt. Hon. Geo. Canning, &c. (Enclosure in No. 4.-Translation.) Full powers granted by the EMPEROR OF BRAZIL to Sir CHARLES STUART, May 2, 1826. Honoured marquis of Angra, sir Charles Stuart, my friend, I the king send you greeting as to one whom I love much. In consideration of your merits, and of the love which on no few occasions you have shown for my royal person and family, I am pleased to authorize you to deliver, in my royal name, to the regency of the kingdom, my royal decrees of the 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th of April, and 1st of May, as well as my letters of constitution and law, the one of the 29th of April, and the other of the 2nd of May, all of |