MANUFACTURES OF IRON AND STEEL.

Total.

A statement exhibiting the value of manufactures of Iron, and Iron and Steel, imported into the United States, from 1821 to 1845, inclusive. Paying duties Paying spePaying duties Paying speYears. ad valorem. cific duties. Total. Years. ad valorem. cific duties. 1821, $1,630,129 $238,400 $1,868,529 1834, $4,090,621 $656,000 $4,746,621 1822, 2,767,757 387,818 4,827,461 524,155 5,351,616 1823, 2,568,842 398,279 7,001,404 879,465 7,880,869 1824, 2,505,291 326,411 3,312,758 393,658 2,831,333 355,152 3,525,433 448,154 3,559,982 620,933 3,100,630

3,155,175 1835,

2,967,121 1836,

2,831,702 1837,

5,488,311 1,038,382

6,526,693

1825,

3,706,416 1838,

3,069,507 543,779

3,613,286

1826,

3,186,485 1839,

5,585,063 922,447

6,507,510

1827,

3,973,587 1840,

2,575,229

609,671 3,184,900

1828,

4,180,915 1841,

3,428,140

827,820 4,255,960

1829,

330,278

3,430,908 1842,

2,919,498

652,583

3,572,081

UNMANUFACTURED IRON AND STEEL.

A statement exhibiting the value of unmanufactured Iron and Steel imported into the United States, from 1821 to 1845, inclusive.

PRODUCTIONS AND EXPORTS OF JAVA.

"At the present time," says the London (Eng.) Economist, "when the abolition of the protective principle has been adopted with respect to many of our British products, both home and colonial, and when an extension of those principles must shortly lead to their further application, especially in the colonies, it cannot fail to be in the highest degree interesting to observe what has been the progress of cultivation in the unprotected colonies of Holland. In Holland, no protective duty whatever is imposed in favor of the productions of the colonies. The sugar and coffee of Brazil and Cuba, and the indigo of India, are imported exactly on the same terms as the produce of Java. There is a difference of duty in favor of Dutch ships, and of those with whom Holland has treaties of navigation,

but none in regard to produce. This distinction has, however, in some instances, been mistaken for a protective duty. A little reflection will show that it is not so. Java sugar is imported into Holland at a lower duty in a Dutch ship, than in a foreign ship, not belonging to a country having a treaty of reciprocity, but the same duties precisely are chargeable on sugar, the produce of Brazil or Cuba, imported in Dutch or foreign ships respectively."

The following table shows the quantity of produce of each kind exported from Java in each year since 1836, under those circumstances of open competition :

NOTE. The exports of Tea, Cochineal, and Sapan wood, for the years 1836 to 1844, inclusive, are unknown.

The crops of 1845 and 1846 look most favorable, and promise most abundant, as regards every article, according to the letters of the 30th of March.

A picol, though strictly only 1334 lbs., is calculated at Batavia at 136 lbs. If, however, we go back ten years more, to 1826, we find the comparisons are still more striking. The following were the quantities of the most important articles of produce exported in 1826, and as above in 1845:

In 1826, the article of tea was not even known as an export, or as a product of the island.

MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

THE POLICY OF IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.

THE judgment of all the great moral writers of the age has condemned the practice of imprisonment for debt; all experience is against it; there is not a jailer or a turnkey that ever closed the door on a prisoner who will not confess its inefficacy; we will say nothing of the denunciations of the Scriptures against those who oppress and trample on the poor and the unfortunate, because in this so-called Christian country, Christian principles are always disregarded when any question relating to the making of money is to be considered; but we will speak of it only as a matter of expediency; not as a matter of religion, or of charity, or of justice, or of humanity, but merely as a matter of expediency; and we contend that, viewed only in respect to its unprofitable operation on the commnnity, inasmuch as it prevents a vast number of people from adding by their labors to the general wealth of the country, imprisonment for debt is statistically an inexpedient practice. It cannot be defended as a punishment, because, when plainly stated in that light, it cannot be allowed that punishment should be inflicted before crime be proved, and no one can have the hardihood to say that the bare circumstance of a person not being able to pay his debt makes his failure criminal; because if he were to be considered criminal, it would follow that because the default of A prevented B from paying C, that therefore B, who was prevented, not by his own fault, but by the default of A, from paying C, was a criminal deserving of punishment! a conclusion which, when thus stated, is too absurd for any sane man to assent to. But the actual operation of the law is to punish the innocent man B, for the failure of the other man A: an injustice so monstrous, that, from its injustice alone, it is a matter of amazement how such a law can be persevered in, as it still is, in several of our democratic States!

But, seeing the sure and certain progress of reform, we are led to hope that men will be wise at last, and place the question upon its proper footing; and come, in the end, to see that it is exceedingly prejudicial to the community at large, to strip one of its members of all that he possesses, and to turn him houseless, naked, and friendless, into the streets!

CINCINNATI MERCANTILE LIBRARY ROOMS.

A late number of the Cincinnati Commercial Chronicle furnishes the following description of the new rooms recently fitted up in that city for the use of the Mercantile Library Association:

The new rooms, in the college, of the Mercantile Library Society, were opened to the public last evening. The fitting up, order, arrangement, and tout ensemble are admirable. The library is placed in alcoves, classified by subjects, making the books easy to reach, on any topic. In the reading room, the papers are all filed on beautiful black walnut desks, marked with the name of the State or city where the papers are issued. The desks are much more convenient than those we saw in the Atlantic cities. The rooms are very handsomely carpeted, hung with chandeliers, and adorned with many fine specimens of the arts. The portrait of CHARLES HAMMOND, very properly, is placed at the head of the reading room. That of GENERAL HARRISON is at the head of the library. The large EXCHANGE ROOм we hope will be occupied for the purpose intended. It would be strange if so many and so intelligent a body of merchants as are now in Cincinnati, could not sustain an exchange. On the whole, we have seen nothing in the country established with more just perceptions of its object, and with more promise of success, than the Mercantile Library rooms of Cincinnati. The institution confers the highest credit upon its officers and members, and upon the liberality of the mercantile community. The society now numbers seven hundred members; and we hope it may prove a strong attrac tion to young merchants.

Mr.

A LARGE AND LIBERAL MERCHANT.

followed up his business with an energy and an ardor which were remarkable, even among the merchants of London. The seas were covered with his ships; the whole earth was embraced in his speculations. His name was familiar among merchants over all the globe; and his signature to an obligation was as current in value as the coined money of a crowned king. His income more resembled the revenue of a state than the income of a private gentleman; and by the influence of his wealth, he was a power in himself, to which the governments of kingdoms paid deference, and to whom they applied in their pecuniary emergencies as to one whose decision was able to precipitate or prolong the war or peace of empires. With all this, instead of growing hard and covetous with the increase of wealth-an effect which it is sorrowful to observe riches too often produce he became more kindly and affable; his heart grew more compassionate towards the wants and necessities of his fellow creatures; his benevolence increased with his means of doing good; so that it is no wonder that he was as popular among the poor as he was reverenced by the rich, and esteemed by the wise and good.

THE BRITISH MERCHANT.

The following picture, we cannot say how correctly drawn, of the British merchant, is abstracted from Chronicles of "The Fleet," by a Peripatician, which contains two interesting stories, the "Ruined Merchant," and the "Turnkey's Daughter."

There certainly is no character on the face of the earth more estimable than that of the British merchant. His enlarged intercourse with the world leads to an enlarged and liberal spirit of dealing with mankind; his necessary avocations exercise his mind in a wholesome activity; his daily experience of the value of character and of a good name, stimulates him to preserve them, and trains him and fixes him in habits of truth and of fair dealing. Liberality is his motto, charity his virtue, generosity his practice. He is always ready to lend a helping hand to the weak, an assisting one to the unfortunate, and to look with indulgence on the errors of the head, when not accompanied by vices of the heart. His vocation, at the same time that it is one of the most honorable in itself, is also one of the most useful to society. He is one of the connecting links of nations; he is the great agent in the interchange of the products of various lands, and of the commodities and manufactures of different and distant countries-the distributor of the wealth of the world. He is one of the prime promoters and conservators of peace on earth; for no one feels more strongly than he how much the good-will, and the civilization, and the inestimable benefits which enlightened commerce brings, are marred and thrown back by the evil effects of war. He is the friend and the protector of the rights of the laboring poor, because he knows that by their labor all wealth is created.

COTTON-PRESS-LARGE CARGOES.

The advantages arising from the introduction of the cotton-press, says the Savannah Georgian, were again illustrated lately in the case of the bark Georgia, which cleared at Savannah, for Liverpool. The following is the statement of her cargo, as compared with her last, which consisted wholly of uncompressed cotton, viz: Present cargo, 1,580 bales -624,200 lbs. compressed; last cargo, 1,340 bales-478,538 lbs. uncompressed. This shows a gain of 240 bales, or about 145,662 lbs. ; equal, at the present rate of freights, to about $1,500, which is more than sufficient to pay all the expenses of the bark while in port, including the compressing and storing of cargo. This advantage is not altogether in favor of the ship-owner. A part of it, and not an unimportant part, either, goes to the planter who has foresight enough to put up his cotton in square bales.

SPANISH FLOUR IN ENGLAND.

A cargo of Spanish flour, arrived at Lerwick, was sold in the public rooms there, by public auction, recently, and the following prices were obtained:-First quality, 36s. per barrel of 196 lbs.; second do., 31s.; third do., 16s. per barrel of 189 lbs. The vessel that brought this cargo is now taking on board a cargo of fish for Spain, and it is expected she will soon return with more flour.

THE BOOK TRADE.

By the Rev. EDWARD WAYLEN, late Rector
New York: Wiley & Putnam.

1.-Ecclesiastical Reminiscences of the United States. of Christ Church, Rockville, Maryland. 8vo., pp. 501. Mr. Waylen, the author of this work, visited the United States in 1834, and these reminiscenses are the result of eleven years' residence here, during which time he received Orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was rector of several churches in different sections of the country, and a pretty extensive traveller in other parts. After taking orders in the Church here, he returned to his native country; but, not succeeding in England in obtaining orders, he revisited the United States, and resumed his rectorship in Maryland. He has finally returned to England, and published the present volume, which embraces a series of observations relating to ecclesiastical affairs in this country, the clergy, and, incidentally, the usual notices of men and things which very naturally attract the attention of the foreign resident or traveller. Mr. W. remarks, in his work, that "his having spoken favorably of the Americans as a people, arises from his long and intimate acquaintance with them; during which, he has associated with almost every class in the community." "The Americans, as a race of people," he further remarks, "inherit most of the good, and are free from many of the bad qualities, which distinguish the nation whence they sprung; nor has the free intermixture of continental blood effected any deterioration in their mental or physical qualities." Without any remarkable depth of observation, the writer gives a very fair and impartial statement of the American character and institutions; and he has made no attempt to shape or adapt his narrative to any established model in the same department of authorship.

2.-The Life and Correspondence of John Foster. Edited by J. E. RYLAND. With Notices of Mr. Foster as a Preacher and a Companion. By JOHN SHEPPARD, author of "Thoughts on Devotion," etc., etc. 2 vols., 12mo., pp. 306 and 385. New York: Wiley & Putnam.

Mr. Foster, whose memoirs and correspondence are contained in these volumes, is well known to the more serious reader, from his able essay on "Decision of Character;" a work of great practical utility, and enduring merit. The present memoir, chiefly compiled from his letters, presents, perhaps, a more vivid and truthful exhibition of character, than even a record, by a self-observer, however faithfully intended, if composed after the lapse of years, when the events and emotions they called forth have begun to fade upon the memory. Mr. Ryland, the editor, who seems to have cherished, from early years, sentiments of affectionate veneration towards the subject of his memoirs, appears to have selected, from the ample materials placed at his disposal, whatever would best illustrate the intellectual and moral qualities, the principles and opinions of so distinguished a man; and we are assured that "he has not censoriously allowed the representation to be moulded into a conformity to his own views or convictions, either by omission, on the one hand, or, on the other, by giving greater prominence to any class of sentiments than the place they occupied in Mr. Foster's estimation would justify." Mr. Foster appears to have dissented on one point, only, of dogmatic theology, from the religious community with which he was most intimately connected; and that was, the duration of future punishment, which he has discussed at some length, in a letter to a young minister. 3.-Memoirs and Essays, illustrative of Art, Literature, and Social Morals. By Mrs. JAMESON, author of "The Characteristics of Woman," "Memoirs of Female Sovereigns," "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles," etc. New York: Wiley & Putnam's Library of Choice Reading, No. LXIV. Mrs. Jameson is favorably known to the reading public of England and this country as a beautiful essayist, and the present volume will not detract from her previously well-earned reputation, as a chaste and vigorous writer, and a healthful, if not profound thinker. The present volume contains six papers of interest, all evincing, in a remarkable degree, the peculiar features of her mind, as displayed in her former productions.

4.-Works of the Puritan Divines. 18mo., pp. 286. New York: Wiley & Putnam.

This third volume of a uniform series of works which are being reproduced in England and the United States, embraces a memoir of the Rev. John How, one of the old Puritan divines of the seventeenth century, and a collection of several of his most remarkable discourses and essays on religious subjects, which are thus given in the title-page:-"The Redeemer's Tears, Wept Over Lost Souls; Union among Protestants; Carnality of Religious Contention; Man's Enmity to God; and Reconciliation between God and Man." On several accounts, we consider the republication of these old writings as valuable;-the most interesting to us, however, is, that they give a very good view of the genius, philosophy, and theological spirit of the age in which their eminent authors lived. 5.-Responses on the Use of Tobacco. By the Rev. BENJAMIN INGERSOLL LANE, author of the "Mysteries of Tobacco," etc. New York: Wiley & Putnam.

Another lecture on the use of tobacco, in which the positions as to its deleterious influence on health are fortified by a host of letters from doctors of medicine and divinity, honorable legislators and civilians; many of whom, no doubt, speak of its evils from experience.