signing them, is very visible in the state of the trade of this island. In the course of my voyages and travels, I found that all the countries to which the British have still access, were supplied with colonial produce by the Americans. With Sicily and Turkey the Americans were in the practice of holding direct intercourse, although neither the Sicilian nor Ottoman governments are on any terms of corre. spondence with that of the United States. I found, also, that the coffee and sugar, in the market of Malta, was brought there by Americans, direct from Cuba and St. Domingo. It seemed, that, without any diplomatic address, exerted in these parts, the citizens of the United States enjoyed, within the Mediterranean, as great privileges, and as ample protection, as the British, with all their fleets, armies, and plenipotentiaries.

"In Sicily, notwithstanding the state of relation in which we stand with that kingdom, the Americans were just as much respected as we were. In Turkey they participated in all the privileges to which we could lay any claim; and, in Malta, our own island, they shared, to the utmost, every immunity which the British possessed. It will be difficult to discover, either in the conduct of the United States towards us, or in that regard which we owe to our own interests, a satisfactory cason for permitting them to enjoy such advantages-advantages enjoyed at the expense of our West Indian planters and merchants.

"Whenever the traders of any nation attain pre-eminency in a foreign market, it is either owing to some superiority of quality in their articles, or to a superiority of privilege, or to their ability in supplying the same kind of articles, at

a cheaper rate than other merchants. It is to the latter of these causes, that the exclusive pre-eminence, which the Americans have attained in the Mediterranean, must be ascribed. They load sugars and coffee in Cuba and St. Domingo, and come directly into this sea. The expenses of the voyage are not greater than those on a voyage from the West Indies to the united kingdom. If the invoice price of their cargoes be the same as the shipping value of our West Indian produce, they can afford to sell, in Malta, for example, at the same price that our planters can afford to sell in England. By our colonial system, we cannot carry colonial produce direct to Malta. It must be first brought to the united kingdom, there landed, there warehoused, and there shipped again, for Malta; and the expense of the voyage from England to that island, independent of the landing, warehousing, and shipping charges, is as great as that of a voyage from Cuba, or St. Domingo, to Malta; namely, the ordinary voyage of the Americans with colonial produce. If this expense be twenty-five per cent, it is, therefore, clear, that our colonisl system has the effect of giving twenty-five per cent. of advantage to the Americans over our merchants, on all colonial produce that is sold in Malta. For the Americans, to reach the same destination, perform only one voyage, while we are, by law, obliged to perform two.

"If it be convenient to the great political concerns of the empire, that the colonies of the enemy should be conquered; as our original plantations must suffer by the effects of this policy, it is but just that we should endeavour to lessen their sufferings. It may be expedient to

reduce

reduce the foreign possessions of the enemy, in order to procure certain equivalents when we shall come to negociate for peace; but it is not judicious that we should entail, upon those possessions, which we do not mean to surrender, hardships that will, in the end, affect our own vital interests, more than the temporary injury which we inflict on the enemy. If it be intended to retain the new acquisitions to the utmost, and to regard them as integral parts of the empire, then the obligation of considering the state of the consumption of colonial produce, within the Mediterranean, in addition to the different other plans proposed for the relief of the planters, is indispensable. The enemy, aware of our belligerent colonial system, has, by most unprecedented regulations, which have proved lamentably successful, endeavoured to lessen the consumption of colonial produce on the continent. This has diminished the loss to him of the colonies which we have taken, and reduced the value of property to us, in those which we previously possessed. Were the actual condition of the colonies, collectively, the same as,at the commencement of the war, such bas been the diminution in the consumption of colonial produce on the continent, that the general value of plantation property is now materially impaired.

this privilege be obtained, under the present circumstances of our connection with Sicily? If we garrison the fortresses, and continue the subsidy to the court, by which the people are exempted from a large portion of the expenses of the war, surely we could and ought to stipulate for some favour in return; and the privilege of selling colonial produce to the Sicilians might be a part of that favour. But, in the existing state of our colonial system, the court of Palermo might object to concede this privilege, because it would, in fact, be obliging its subjects to pay twenty-five per cent. more to the British, for the same kind of goods, which they obtain, at present, from the Americans. Were we to obtain, from the king of Sicily, the exclusive privilege of bringing colonial produce to his ports, and yet continue those existing restrict ons, which oblige the planters to send their articles first to the united kingdom, we should, in fact, levy a tax of twenty-five per cent. on the sugar and coffee consumed by the Sicilians. I do not say that we ought not to do this; but, were the point agitated in negociation, the king of Sicily has certainly a very solid ground of objection. Were we to grant our planters the freedom of direct intercourse with Malta, our own territory, and, it is to be hoped, an adopted and unalienable integral part of our empire, the objection of the Sicilian government would be obviated; because, by the vicinity of that island to Sicily, we could then afford to furnish the Sicilians with colonial produce, on terms, at least equal to those of the Americans, even if we did not take any steps to exclude the Americans from the Mediterranean. L

"The population of Sicily is commonly reckoned at a million and a half. The quantity of sugar used in that island is, perhaps, equal to the whole consumption of Scotland; and the quantity of coffee is, undoubtedly, much greater. Would not the exclusive privilege of supplying the Sicilians with colonial produce be regarded as a boon by our planters? Might not

1912.

"By

"By extending to the colonies the right of direct intercourse with Malta, we should secure a monopoly of the supply of Turkey with coffee and sugar: of the former, the Turks, in proportion to their number, consume more than any other people, and are daily becoming greater consumers of the latter, In the course of my travels in Turkey, I found, every where, that the coffee with which I was served, had either been brought from Malta or Smyrna. The colonial produce sold at Smyrna, had either come from Malta, to which it had been brought by Americans, or been imported by the Americans themselves. It is only in the houses of the great, that the Mocha coffee is to be met with; and, at present, not often there, owing to the Wechabi, the reformers of the Mahomedan faith, having interrupted the regular supplies.

"An important proportion of the produce of the colonies which we have taken from the enemy, is coffee; and the cultivation of that article, in our old plantations, is yearly increasing. To aspire to the monopoly of supplying Turkey with coffee, is impressed upon us by the state both of our old and new colonies. For excluding the Americans from Malta, even entirely, there can be no political complaint; far less for denying to them, in future, the privilege of carrying colonial produce there. They are not permitted to bring it into the ports of the United Kingdom; and, all circumstances considered, it is, certainly, very like negligence, if it be policy, to permit them to have, in a very great degree, a monopoly of the sugar and coffee trade, with the countries round the Mediterranean; particularly to allow

them to enter Malta on as free a footing as ourselves, and with those articles too, of which their sales operate to the detriment and loss of a numerous class of our own subjects. I do not know, whether our situation with the Porte is such, that we might attempt to procure a monopoly of the coffee trade to Turkey, by any public treaty. The Turks, individually, esteem us more than they do any other people; but our national influence is not, I am well convinced, by facts within my own knowledge, so great with the divan as that of the French. Were we to attempt to obtain, by treaty, any particular commercial privilege in Turkey, the French would immediately oppose us, and, I have no doubt, successfully. But, were we to relax our colonial system, and grant to our planters the right of direct intercourse with Malta, we should not require the dubious utility of diplomatic endeavours. The enterprise of our merchants would enable them to discover ways and means abundantly sufficient for securing the superiority and advantage which we ought to possess in the sale of colonial produce.

"We ought, also, as the masters of Malta, to consider, prospectively, the state of our relations with Turkey. It is scarcely to be doubted, that, sooner or later, France. one way or other, will contrive to expel, from the Ottoman domi nions, the few inconsiderable rennants that still exist, of our Levant factories. We should, therefore, take some decisive way of fixing insular establishments in the Archipelago establishments, which our navy enables us, effectually, to protect, and which, even in the event of another war with Turkey, might be rendered perfectly secure, if ju

diciously

diciously selected, It is only by extending the ramifications of our insular policy from Malta, that we shall be able to maintain our superiority in the Mediterranean.

"In proposing to grant the freedom of direct intercourse between the colonies and our Mediterranean possessions, an objection might be made by those mercantile houses at . home, who hold mortgages on West Indian property: but this objection could only be of weight, against an argument for extending the freedom of intercourse to countries independent of our own. Nor can it be urged by those merchants, that any mortgages are held by them, on property in the newly-acquired plantations: and, therefore, if for no other reason than for the interests of the planters in them, some alteration in our colonial regulations should be made. If there are objections of any validity, on the part of the mortgagees, against allowing a free intercourse between the old colonies and our Mediterranean possessions, there can be none why that intercourse should not be granted to the new. Here we have a clear view of the absurdity of adhering, under the altered circumstances of the world, to those

colonial regulations which were calculated for other times.

"Another objection, apparently of more importance, presents itself, By bringing the produce of the colonies to the mother country, and there re-shipping it for its ultimate destination, it may be said, that a greater quantity of tonnage and number of seamen are employed, than would be were the produce at once sent from the colonies to the ultimate destination; but, it must be remembered, that, at present, only a small part, or, rather, none of our colonial produce is consumed in the Mediterranean; so that the shipping and sailors that are supposed to be employed in this trade, have, in fact, no existence.

"It is chiefly with respect to the colonial interests, that the trade of Malta requires the early consideration of government. The obstruc. tions, which it, at present, suffers, may be obviated, by an act of the legislature, in the course of a few days, and without any investigation of the circumstances of the island. But those things which regard the law and administration of justice, should be examined with care, and proceeded in with caution.

cumference. The buildings occupy about four-fifths of this enclosure; the remainder consists of corn-fields and gardens.

"The common estimation of the population of Athens is ten thousand souls; and it appears not to be far from the truth: and yet the L2

city

city contains no less than thirtynine parochial churches, besides the metropolitan, and upwards of eighty chapels. The metropolitan is sometimes spoken of as a parish church, and it is usual to say, in consequence, that the town is divided into forty parishes.

"Athens is the seat of an archbishop, whose jurisdiction comprehends all on the east side of Salona, as far as Zeitun, and extends to Cape Colonna.

The famous. University of Athens has dwindled into two pitiful schools, where classic Greek is professedly taught. The students are few, and their proficiency is small. Degrees are not conferred, and no literary honours are now known in Athens. There are several private schools; and the Athenians can, generally, read and write. The friar, in the Roman propaganda convent, instructs the children of the Catholics in the Italian language. Few of the Greeks can afford to allow their children to advance beyond the mere rudiments of instruction; and books are not to be purchased here. In Athens, there are eleven places of Mahomedan worship. The Turks have also three public schools, where their youth receive a slender species of education.

66

"Adjoining to the parish churches are several small houses, which are granted, free, by the bishop, to helpless women. Infirm old men retire to the monasteries, of which there are a great many in the territory of Attica.

"When I went to see the Piræus, there happened to be only two vessels in it. One destined to receive part of the spoils of the Parthenon; the other was delivering a cargo of human beings from the coast of Africa. The only trade at the Piræus, besides the little done

in the human commodity, is the exportation of the productions of the Athenian territory; of which about thirty-five thousand barrels of oil are annnally shipped by the French merchants settled here, and from forty to fifty tons of madder roots. The oil is good; but the madder is inferior to that of Smyrna. A small quantity of nitre is also prepared in Athens. Considering the improvement which has taken place in the neighbouring islands, and particucularly in Egina, it is probable that the Piræus may again become a frequented port. There is a little cotton raised in Attica'; but the ground is so carelessly tilled, that the grain harvest rarely affords inuch for exportation.

"The temple of Jupiter Olym pus, which was the largest fabric in Athens, presents now only a few columns; but they are of such majestic proportions, that they form a very impressive spectacle. No just notion of the figure or extent of the building can be conceived from them; but this obscurity, especially as they are seen standing in an open field, unobstructed with rubbish, enhances the interest and the solemnity of the effect. The Turks, and the baser Greeks, are in the practice of breaking down and burning the marbles of the ancients, in order to make mortar. Owing to this, all the rest of the hundred and twenty pillars of which this gorgeous edifice consisted, have entirely vanished away.

"The temple of Minerva, with the other buildings in the Acropo lis, are the most celebrated of all the Athenian edifices. In point of influence on the imagination, all the elaborate sculptures of the Parthenon, the Erectbeum, the Pandroséum, and the Propylia, fall infinitely short of the ivied cloisters of a monastery,

or