of the success he has just obtained in Finland-yet he is but half satisfied with General Buxhöwden, and he means to replace him. The reply of the English government deprives him of almost all hope of a speedy peace-yet he thinks that it is of importance always to keep a door open for negotiation, and afterwards, whatever be the success of it, to go forward-he has given an example of this in his reply to Prince Kourakin, who had given him an account of the little success he had in demanding of the court of Vienna the acknowledgment of Joseph the First. M. De Romanzoff read me this letter of the emperor to Prince Kourakin-I think your majesty will be satisfied with it. The Emperor of Russia is astonished at the refusal of Austria, under the pretext on which it is founded. Austria wishes first to know the result of the conferences of Erfurth,

"It is by disobliging,' says the Emperor, that she pretends to merit complaisance? Why is she uneasy at what has been signed at Erfurth? Far from having wished to injure the interests of Austria, there was stipulated there the integrity of that Monarchy.' (This assertion is evidently a mistake of the Emperor's, who had not the Treaty before him, an error occasioned probably by the recollection of some conversations with your Majesty.) Thus whilst I am occupied with her interests,' continues the Emperor, she replies by a refusal to accede to the demand I had made of her, and in seeming to seek my friendship, she evinces to me her distrust of my conduct at Erfurth.'-The emperor accuses Austria of contradictions in all her

conduct, and in the language of M. De Metternich, M. De Stadion, and M. Vincent, he says that the acknowledgment demanded of her was but the effect of the management which it was wished to shew her, in thus dispensing with the demand of a categorical declaration upon the prodigious increase of her military force. He does not see what is the object which she is pursuing; and after having observed, that when King Joseph shall be at Madrid, the refusal of Austria to acknowledge him will only be an act of ridicule, he declares, that if she has formed the senseless project of framing a new Coalition, by leaguing herself with England, Tur key, and the Spanish insurgents, he is in a condition to oppose it, and that, united with the Emperor Napoleon, he could easily break that new league, which would be to Austria the cause of disasters, if not of total ruin.

"Such is the reply of the Emperor Alexander to Prince Kourakin; it was to be sent to the Russian Charge d'Affairs at Vienna, who has orders to communicate it to M. De Stadion. The Charge d'Affaires has lately written to M. Kourakin; it appears that this dispatch of the Emperor's had not reached him, though it is dated the 8th No

weaken the hope which I am fond of sharing with him---But if it cannot be soon realized, I shall renew to your Majesty the demand of repairing to you, if after the reply from England, my remaining here should appear useless.

"I had the satisfaction to announce to M. De Romanzoff, the arrival of your Majesty at St Martin, near Madrid, referring him for the details to the Bulletin which will appear to-morrow, of the contents of which I am not yet informed. "I am with respect, Sire, Your Majesty's most faithful,

And devoted servant and subject,
CHAMPAGNY."

At a General Court of Proprietors of the West India Dock Company, held at their House in Billiter-Square, on Friday the 6th of June, 1809, Thomas Hughan, Esq in the chair; the Chairman read to the Meeting a Report from a Committee of Directors, on the General Conduct of the Company's Concerns, to the end of the year 1808; which was ordered to be printed for the use of the proprie

tors.

REFORT.-The committee of Review, in compliance with the Resolution of the Court of Directors of the 20th December last, directing that they should "Report to the Court the present state of business at the Docks, and such circumstances respecting the Company's Concerns during the last Season, as may appear to them to require observation," present the following Re'port.

The season just elapsed having been one of peculiar difficulty in the conduct of the Company's con

cerns, and in which the efficacy and resources of the Establishment have been called into action, and put to the test, it is matter of singular gratification to your Committee to be enabled to state, that the exertions of your officers and servants have been successful in the discharge of their duty; and that the business of the year, in all its various departments, although im peded by circumstances embarrassing and unprecedented, has been completed at a period unusually early. To the details which are necessarily connected with this (the more immediate) object of your Committee, they premise a few remarks, founded upon those facts and incontrovertible principles to which your Establishment owes both its origin and its utility.

However unwilling some persons may be to awaken the recollection, yet it cannot be generally forgotten, what were the excessive delays, increasing difficulties, and glaring abuses, which not many years ago obstructed, in an especial manner, the West-India Trade at this port, and called aloud for a remedy. The records exist which prove the enormity of the evil, progressively affecting the credit of the port, the safe collection of the revenue, and the property of individuals connected with the trade, in times otherwise prosperous, and seriously contributing to degrade and corrupt the morals of the people. To these causes your Establishment owes its origin, an effectual reform could only be sought in a great and costly effort. The individuals who formed and who composed the Company, undertook, at very considerable risk, to make the effort requisite for a purpose so desirable.

The obstacles that must occur in

combating

combating numerous and powerful classes of opponents determined by prejudice, or stimulated by interest, could only be surmounted by that union of zeal, perseverance, and ability, which were on this occasion combined, and being sanctioned by a provident policy in the legislature, (fortunately for the commercial prosperity of London,) proved successful. These opponents although silenced were not reconciled. To the origin and character of the Establishment itself, as opposed to individual and petty exactions, may be traced the source of much of that spirit of discontent and hostility which it has since encountered, and which has pursued its object, by misrepresentations, most gross, and yet too frequently credited; but it is a rigid enquiry into their conduct, and an impartial investigation of their principles and proceedings, that will furnish to the Company the surest means of vindicating themselves, and demonstrating, that they have, in all liberal construction, accomplished the good purposes of the undertaking, and fulfilled their engagements to the public.

By the general view of its merits and demerits, and not by its adaptation to any one particular occurrence, ought every public Establish ment in fairness to be tried; but your Committee are confident that the Company need not shrink from a more minute scrutiny, and enquiry, how far its provisions and regulations are already compatible with the separate and distinct interests of different bodies connected with the West-India trade; although they may and will on the test of experiment, and by suggestions of those most interested, be ultimately still farther perfected.

The security afforded to property, and the prevention of frauds, are purposes which your institution is universally admitted to have attained, and in these objects, the interests of the public revenue of the importers and proprietors of goods, and of the ship owners, are all intimately blended, and most essentially promoted; and yet these topics, of the highest importance to the state, and to individuals, (when clamour is to be excited against your system), are seldom adverted to, and although it would be no difficult task to prove that the duty saved to the revenue, and the property preserved to individuals, by these means, amounts annually to many hundred thousand pounds, yet your Committee abstain from a superfluous illustra-` tion of a fact so generally acknowledged, and proceed to details which are more connected with some late discussions concerning the conduct of your Establishment.

If the Warehousing System be productive of great practical benefit both to internal and foreign commerce, it must not be overlooked, that so far as the West-India trade is concerned, it could not have been carried into effect, without some Establishment equivalent to that which thus originated. It is well known that during many years of his administration, the advantages that might result from that system both to the revenue and to the trade, had presented themselves to the comprehensive mind of that able minister, the late Mr. Pitt, and that he only sus pended its adoption, until some adequate improvement should be made in the port of London, under which it might be safely carried inHh 4

to

Year. No. of Ships. Finished Landing. 1803......363...........·14 Jan. 1804 1804354··· .29 Dec. 1304 1805......421. . . . . - 22 Jan. 1806 1806......477...... 2 Feb. 1807 1807......503- ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 24 Dec. 1807 1808 · · · · 398· · · ·. 595 completed 3 Dec. 1808

ment.

The benefits accruing to the West-India body generally, and the degree of accommodation and dispatch afforded by the Company, your Committee conceive will be best illustrated by a few concise statements, as they are desirous that on disputed points an appeal may be made solely to the evidence of facts. They will here premise, that whatever advantages it shall appear have been obtained for the trade, are secured to it without any additional expence being incurred; the Company on its formation having undertaken for the term of their charter, to provide all the accommodation which the Dock System affords, and to perform all the services and labour necessary to ships and goods at importation, for the charges then current at the port, although such charges had been previously and almost annually advancing.

In order to shew how far the means and resources of the Company have been properly applied, and the dispatch given to ships, your Committee will first call the attention of the Court to an account, shewing the number of ships employed in the West-India trade which have been discharged in the Docks in the last six years, with the dates at which the business of

by which it will appear, that such has been the increase of the WestIndia trade, that 95 ships have been unloaded this season in addition to the greatest number ever before received, and 174 ships more than the average number of the preceding five years. In the period between the beginning of July and the beginning of December, a space of five months, when circumstances of the greatest difficulty occurred, upwards of 460 ships were unloaded, exclusive of smaller vessels and craft, with cargoes consisting of 159,804 hhds. and trs. of Sugar.-26,917 puns. and hhds., Rum.-31,675 hhds. and trs., 125,480 bags, Coffee.— 10,855 bales, 487 pockets, &c, Cotton.-35 casks, 2,732 bags, Pimento.--351 casks, 2,411 bags, Ginger.-822 casks, 7,228 bags, Cocoa.-1,797 casks, Wine. Making a total of 11,342 bales, 137,851 bags, 221,401 casks, and from the 10th Oct. to the 28th Nov. 150 ships were entirely unloaded at the quays. This being the precise period when it was stated to the lords of the treasury, that owing to the negligence of the directors, only 8 or 9 ships were at that time unloaded weekly, and proceeding on that calculation, that 108 ships then in the docks would necessarily be delayed some months, (we must presume not less than three), and on such, and other equally unfounded

pretexts,

pretexts, was grounded an application for an infringement of the Company's privileges. Whereas the fact is, that these 108 ships, with the addition of others subsequently admitted, were unloaded in the month of November, such only excepted as were delayed by causes not dependant on the Company.

The general state of the business performed by the Company during the last year will stand thus:-598 ships have unloaded, and 106 smaller vessels and craft;-of the above number of 598 ships, 593 were completed upon the 3d Dec.

1808.

Thus so early as the close of the month of November, the great body of shipping in the West-India trade were completely cleared of their cargoes; an instance of dispatch singular and unexampled, and evidently proving the superiority of your Establishment, particularly under the embarrassing circumstances of an extraordinary accumulation of produce on hand, occasioned by an almost total stagnation of export: if these advantages be contrasted with the delays, impediments, losses, and abuses, which must have arisen under the former system, their value will be incalculable.

During the utmost pressure, and under peculiar circumstances of the season, the Company did undertake to provide at his own expence, and beyond its exclusive means, an extraordinary provision of warehouse room, but it did not become necessary to resort to it, beyond an accommodation for 5747 casks and 4137 boxes, and 511 barrels of prize or foreign sugar, and thus may the dispatch given to the shipping in such a season, afford the best proof

of the adequacy of the Company's resources to the general exigencies of the trade; but it may be proper to add the following statement of the quantity of goods actually lodged within your warehouses at one time, exclusive of the articles on the quays;-102,647 hhds. and trs., 11,612 chests and brls. of Sugar.14,681 puns. and hhds, of Rum.-38,239 hhds. and trs.. 190,408 bags, Coffee.--1,411 bales, 164 pockets, &c., Cotton.-24 casks, 3,168 bags Pimento.-201 casks, 1,006 bags, Ginger.-1,100 casks, 13,257 bags, Cocoa.-1,786 casks, Wine. -Making a total of 11,612 chests, &c. 1,575 bales, 207,839 bags, 158,678 casks. Let this statement be compared with all the accommodation existing at the port, for the housing of West-India produce, previous to the formation of the docks, which according to the best computation in respect to the article of Sugar only, was not capable of containing beyond one third of the quantity, which has been actually deposited in your warehouses.

The system of providing distinctly for the shipping of goods to the West-Indies, and the security afforded, thereby both to the ships and goods, belongs peculiarly to your Establishment; and, to a system so recent and dependant upon corresponding regulations of the revenue boards, it cannot reasonably be reproached that it is yet susceptible of improvement; sufficient however has appeared to shew that this part of your Establishment, is one, which must eventually prove of essential benefit to the West-India trade of the port.

The regulations of the Company have all been framed in strict consistency with its solid and permanent

interests,