that any other European government would find it impracticable to supplant or drive away the English from their eastern sovereignty; and that, though the Company are playing, and have long been playing, a heavily-losing game, Lord Clive, Warren Hastings, the Marquis Wellesley, and many others, have, by deep policy, made enormous fortunes-that these are facts we freely admit; but that, by virtue of the trade as a monopoly, and the manner in which it is managed, any real benefit accrues to England at large, we are by no means prepared to acknowledge. However, M. Say's representation of the Company's balance-sheet will say more on the subject than any language of ours:

"In the Company's relations with the parent state, it can only be considered as the medium of British influence in that part of the world. In proportion as its authority and revenue have increased, government has stepped in for its share, although the military forces furnished from home have always been maintained by the company. England considers herself to be invested with the rights of sovereignty, and entitled to raise tribute, although the exercise of this power was abandoned for a time to the company. Since 1767, when, by the conquests of Lord Clive, a trading company was raised to the rank of a powerful state, it was agreed that the company should pay annually to government the sum of 400,0001.; but this payment has always been very imperfectly made, under the pretext of expences incurred in reducing the independent princes; so that, in 1773, so far from paying any thing, the company was forced to borrow of government, or rather of the nation, under the sanction of government, the sum of 1,400,0001. In 1785, time was asked for paying up the custom-house dues owing to the English treasury, which amounted to a considerable sum; and in 1812, government again borrowed, for the use of the company, the sum of 3,680,0001.

"All these and other sources of embarrassment, into which it is needless to enter, have gradually brought the company into complete dependance on the British ministry. The directors, who sit in London, have the appearance of governing, by their agents, the territories of the company, because their agents are paid by them; but, in 1784, the minister was authorised by parliament to form a permanent council, under the name of the Board of Control, which is generally composed of the prime minister and his dependants. With this council the directors must concert respecting all appointments, and all military and political operations. In fact, the Board of Control rules India. The directors are independent only so far as respects commercial operations. The nomination to all vacant places, whether in Europe or Asia, or their confirmation to the possessors, adds much to the influence of the crown.

"It is estimated that the company now maintains in India 15,000 civil agents, of whom 3000 are Europeans; 160,000 soldiers and officers, of whom 20,000 are Europeans, including all the officers; and 25,000 seamen; which raises the number of its servants to 200,000.

"It now remains to ascertain what are the pecuniary advantages which have been or will be derived to the company and the mother country from the possession of India. And first of all, taking for our guide the most recent and best authenticated documents, we find that in 1798, after four years of peace, the company's revenues amounted to 8,040,0001. The expences for the same year, including the interest of the debt, were 8,120,0001., exhibiting an excess of expenditure over income of 80,0001.

"The evil was prodigiously increased during the administration of the Marquis Wellesley, notwithstanding all the subsidies he received, and the territory he added to the British possessions. In 1806, when his administration ended, the revenue amounted to 15,400,0001., and the expences, including the interest of the debt, to 17,680,0001., leaving a deficit of 2,280,0001.

"It is a question among English politicians, whether the increasing deficit in the finances of the company arises from its losses in government or in commerce. The last is the most difficult to ascertain, as there is no Board of Control to take account of it. Yet, it is generally supposed, that the trade with China is a source of profit, but not so much as to cover the losses in other quarters. It is one proof of this, that when, in 1808, an application was made to parliament for assistance, by the company, the directors submitted a statement of all the exports to India and China from 1797 to 1807, and of the imports in return. Thèse statements showed an excess of exports beyond the imports, for the eleven years, of 5,680,0001. or 440,0001. per annum, which

must be added to the losses in government, which will then have increased from 2,280,000l. to 2,720,0001.

"The preceding statements are taken from Adam Smith, Colquhoun, from Dr. Robert Hamilton's valuable work, on the National Debt; but principally from the excellent History of British India, published in 1817, by Mr. James Mill.

**After this statement, we need not wonder that the company is so dreadfully in debt, both in India and in Europe; and, added to that, it has, notwithstanding its losses, never ceased to pay its proprietors a dividend of 10 per cent. upon their stock. In 1805, it acknowledged a debt in England of six millions, and in India a debt of twenty-five millions six hundred thousand pounds, in all thirty-one millions six hundred thousand pounds. But it must be observed that this balance is struck after deducting the credits it thinks itself entitled to. If these credits, however, are composed, for the greater part, of bad debts, of which it is impossible ever to obtain payment, it is clear that they cannot go in diminution of their actual obligations.

"What must be thought, for instance, of the value of forts, warehouses, and other buildings, and their equipment, which are reckoned by the company as part of its funds? Besides that these can never be worth to any one what they have cost the company, which cost is the basis of their valuation, they are not available in the hands of a government as they would be in the han ls of an individual. When an individual, on a property of 100,0001. lays out 50,0001. in improvements, he may hope, for the capital he has expended on it, to sell it for 150,0001. The improvements are transferable, because the property is so. But a government is merely a tenant of its possessions. When they pass to a new government, that does not think itself obliged to account to the old for the public establishments it has thought proper to create. These establishments are supposed to be made for the public benefit; they pay to the public the expences of their formation by the advantages derived from them. The new government may say to the old, The funds of these establishments were not furnished by you, but by your subjects; they are entitled to the enjoyment of them; we only fulfil your obligations, but cannot reimburse you the principal of a sum of which we pay the interest.'

"Several other credits in the company's balance sheet are equally unavailable. For instance, they take credit for a sum of 1,720,0001. for the expedition they sent to Egypt when Bonaparte was master of that country. Now, this was undertaken on account of the company, rather than for the British government, which does not acknowledge the debt, and which might, with much more reason, claim the payment from the company of the expences incurred in fitting out Lord Nelson's fleet, and the expedition which deprived the French of Egypt. At the least, the last of these claims may fairly balance the other.

"A sum of 2,000,0001. due to the company by the nabob of Arcot and the rajah of Tanjore, is in a similar situation. These princes are not very likely to pay their debts to the company, which has since that time taken possession of their territory, and stript them of all their resources.

"The whole of these fictitious credits amount to no less a sum than 16,000,0001.! and this being added to (not deducted from, according to the company's statement) the acknowledged debt of 31,600,0001., the total amount of their debt will be nearly 48,000,0001."

This being the awful fact, we say with the French writer, that "the East-India Company may be regarded as an association of merchants and sovereigns, which, gaining nothing in either capacity, is reduced to the necessity of borrowing annually a sufficient sum to pay the proprietors of its stock their dividend." It is, indeed, obvious, that the concern eats itself up; that the expence of its support enormously exceeds its profits; and that, while it is in the condition of a bankrupt tradesman, it is debarred of his resources for, or chances of, future prosperity. He breaks, and begins again, without having an army of watchmen to feed, If he is not a monopolizer, neither has he to pay the charges of one; and, to say that the East India Company does not pay its own soldiers, which is pretty nearly the fact, is only saying that the people of England pay them; and that is the very evil of which we complain.

An Account of the Organization, Administration, and Present State of the Military Colonies in Russia. By Robert Lyall, M.D.—Cadell. THE military colonization of Russia, on which Dr. Lyall has thrown a strong ray of light, is a subject of great importance to the rest of Europe. The system is at present only in its infancy; but, if strenuously continued, it will be a matter of most alarming apprehension. After the conclusion of the late war, the effective and economical disposition of its immense army was a point of serious consideration to the Russian government. Count Araktcheëf, who had risen from the ranks solely by his great talents to become a general of artillery, and to be one of the chief military counsellors attached to the person of the Emperor, is said to have first suggested the idea of quartering the soldiers upon the crown-peasants, of building military villages according to a regular plan, of allotting portions of land to each house, and of framing a code of laws for the government of these new created colonies. The objects which he proposed to accomplish by military, colonization were:-1. To diminish the expense of maintaining the army, making the soldier contribute, by his labours in the field, to his own maintenance. 2. To increase its numerical force, by forming a corps de reserve from the crown-peasants equal in number to the soldiers colonized, and by training the whole male population of the colonized villages to arms. 3. To give the soldier a house, where his family may be left when war summons him to the field. Lastly, To increase the population, and thereby the cultivation of a country, which wants only hands to turn many of its steppes into gardens, and its scattered villages into flourishing towns. It appears that in some parts of Russia this colonizing system met with great opposition, and produced much dissatisfaction."

Many affecting scenes are said to have taken place as the Empress and the Dowager-Empress went to and returned from Moscow, in the year 1818. Hundreds of the peasants collected at the post-stations, and, when the imperial carriages stopped, they simultaneously bowed themselves to the earth, or completely prostrated themselves, and, in the language of the deepest sorrow and distress, entreated their majesties to hear their tales of woe, and to intercede with the emperor to abandon the new system of colonization.

The system, in short, is abhorred by the peasantry, detested by the military, and considered dangerous by the nobility. Yet the Emperor Alexander is highly prejudiced in its favor; and it is said that he meditates extending it to the whole Russian army, except the guards.

There are six millions of crown-peasants in the empire: four millions, it is calculated, will be rather more than sufficient to colonize the whole army, amounting to one million of men; and thus in process of time, supposing the plan persevered in, Russia will have, besides the present army, a million of reserve almost as good as the original soldiers, and in the colonists, their assistants, the cantonists, and the boys educated in the colonies, a never-failing nursery, from which the enormous army will be constantly recruited with soldiers, trained from their infancy to the use of arms.

Should this system be persevered in and consummated, Russia will have a male population of five millions living under laws different from

the rest of their countrymen, separated from them by their habitations and ways of life, and raised above them by the extent of their knowledge. Such an enormous mass of moral and physical power is dangerous both to Russia and to Europe. Under a warlike sovereign, the dynasties of Europe might be utterly subverted; under a feeble one, the partition of the Russian empire may be regarded as inevitable.

Greece in 1823 and 1824; being a Series of Letters, and other Documents, on the Greek Revolution, written during a visit to that Country. By the Honourable Colonel Leicester Stanhope. Illustrated with several curious Fac-similes. To which is added, the Life of Mustapha Ali.-8vo. pp. 308. 13s. bds.

Ar length we are put into possession of further information corroborative of that which has been laid before the public, by the indefatigable Blacquiere. By means of this new historian, and the writings of Mr. B., the imperfections and hiatuses of contemporary journalists, are supplied.

Amidst the various struggles for liberty which have recently agitated the world, none has excited so strong and permanent an interest as that of the people of Greece. The name of Greece is calculated to awaken and revive in every bosom feelings of the most pleasurable and improving kind. With our earliest years we are taught to admire the energy and pathos of her poets; and, as we advance towards manhood, the genius of her historians, no less than the heroic actions which they have commemorated, become the favourite theme of our study. That such a nation, descended from the warriors, the poets, the historians, and the philosophers, who present to us the noblest types of their respective classes, should have sunk so low in the scale of moral energy, as to have become the unmurmuring slaves of a race of uncivilized infidels, was a phenomenon too remarkable to be overlooked, and too humiliating not to be universally deplored. But, in this state of apparent moral degradation, the virtues of the Greek people did but slumber; their mental and physical powers were not Pannihilated, and the fortunate moment at length arrived which enabled them to prove to the admiring world that they yet inherited a portion of those sublime energies which had ennobled their renowned progenitors. Roused from the apathy of their long-borne suffering, they at once burst asunder the massy chains with which their tyrants had loaded them, and, strong in the majesty of regenerated freedom, Greece has once more lifted up her head.

The principal cause which has so long confined the Greeks to defensive operations, has been the want of money; but this difficulty has been removed, by the negotiation in England of a loan on account of the Greek government, which is in course of payment, and which will enable it to overcome many of the obstacles which have hitherto embarrassed its naval and military equipments. It is principally in this point of view that the efforts of those distinguished foreigners who have exerted themselves in behalf of Greece, have been most beneficial to her; and it is here that the Greek Committee of London justly bears away the palm of merit. Colonel Leicester Stanhope

offered his services to the Committee, to proceed to Greece in the character of their agent; and his offer being received by the Committee, the present work consists principally of the details given by him to the Committee, as to the steps which he was daily taking in furtherance of their generous designs.

As a treat to our readers, we shall present them with a few passages from the letters :

"LETTER XIII.

Missolonghi, December 16, 1823. "I went on-board the Spetziot admiral's ship with Mavrocordato, and afterwards, to prevent jealousy, visited the Hydriot admiral also. All their captains came on-board, and, on my return, nearly all of them saluted, some with powder, some, according to their custom, with ball. Mavrocordato is a favourite with the islands, the people of Western Greece, and the legislative body. He is now president of that body, and is sent round here to settle affairs in this quarter. I find him good-natured, clever, accommodating, and disposed to do good. He has rather an ingenious than a profound mind. He seems, at all times, disposed to concede, and to advance every good measure; and I consider it a grand advantage for Greece that he is now in power at Missolonghi. The society here, consisting chiefly of soldiers, have received me with warm, and, I believe, with sincere professions of regard."

"LETTER XV.

66

Missolonghi, December 18, 1823. "The press will be at work next Monday. Its first production will be a prospectus. On the first day of the year 1824 the Greek Chronicle will be issued: Dr. Meyer is the editor, and I have hired an intelligent man to assist him, and have furnished him with much matter. It will be printed in Greek and Italian; it will come out twice a-week, and the price will be six dollars per annum. Pray endeavour to assist its circulation in England, and send out all newspapers and other matter.

Money expended in England will not do one-tenth as much good as money expended here. For example:-for £200 I can set the press at work; for £100 I can establish a post across the Morea; for £500 I could put a force in movement that would take Patras, Lepanto, and the Castles, which would free Greece. Send, therefore, no more men or things ;-send me money. Solicit the Quakers to send out a good schoolmaster, books, medicines, surgical instruments, and money, -to Greece, not to the continent."

LETTER XVI.

“ Missolonghi, December 20, 1823. "Your agent has now been at Missolonghi one week. During that period a free press has been established, a corps of artillery has been decided on, the funds furnished for its maintenance during nine months, and a person despatched to assemble it; means have been furnished to prevent the Greek fleet from dispersing, and a proper house and grounds have been procured for the establishment of a laboratory. This is a very encouraging commencement of our labours.

"I was yesterday visited by Capitano Hormari, a brave and modest soldier : I asked him how many head of cattle he had; he replied 500,000. A sort of surly misunderstanding still exists between the executive and legislative bodies. The latter is accused of having fulfilled none of its engagements; namely, to equip a fleet of sixty ships, to employ 12,000 men in an expedition, and to establish schools, presses, posts, &c.

66 LETTER XVII.

Missolonghi, December 23, 1823. "A Greek vessel, with twenty men, attacked a Turkish vessel with seventy men onboard. The latter was proceeding from Patras to Prevesa, with persons who had fled on account of the disorders which prevail at Patras. The fight was so ob tinate that the Turkish vessel went down; seven men were taken up and saved, and some reache'l the shore, but most of them were killed.

"A public meeting has been held in the church of St. Spiridion, at Missolonghi, the object of which was to choose four magistrates. The prince Mavrocordato read to them his credentials, by which it appeared, that the executive and legislative bodies had appointed him president of the legislative body, and civil and military governor of Western Greece, by which is meant Livadia. The aristocracy endeavoured to have the four members elected from their body, pretending that they were wiser, and knew the Crit Guz. Vol. 1. No. 6.

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