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to the interests of humanity, so fraught with blessings to thousands of our fellow-creatures.

(Signed) "John W. D. Wilson, (President); Stedman Rawlins; John Woodley; John Garnett; James Davoren; R. W. Pickwoad; John Tyson; Charles Woodley; Isaac Dupuy. "Council-Chamber, 1st June, 1825." His Lordship briefly replied, expressing his satisfaction at joining the Honourable Board in Council; and added, that he had nothing to submit beyond the subjects he had already adverted to in their presence.

ANTIGUA.

The Two Houses of Legislature met on Thursday, June 9th, 1825, by special summons from his Honour the Commander in Chief.-Soon after one o'clock his Honour and the Lord Bishop of Barbadoes and the Leeward Island's arrived in the Council Chamber, and his Lordship being seated on the right of the Commander in Chief, the Marshal was directed by his Honour to require the attendance of the Assembly. The House immediately proceeded to the Council Chamber, with the Speaker at its head, and on its arrival there, the Commander-in-Chief was pleased to deliver the following Speech :"Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Council,

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"Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Assembly,

"The Lord Bishop of Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands having arrived in this part of his Diocese, I have thought it proper, in conformity to his Majesty's gracious order, to have him sworn in a Member of the Council, and I have summoned you to meet this day to witness his taking his seat as a Member of the Legislature.

"You will with me congratulate the Government upon this decided mark of the King's paternal care of these Colonies, in placing at the head of the Church a person of the great endowments of the Gentleman who has now become one among us, and look forward confidently to the advantages that are likely to be the consequence of his zealous and indefatigable exertions.

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"Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Assembly,

"The Bill recommended to be passed by you for the transferring the Ecclesiastical Powers to his Lordship, will be introduced to you by his Majesty's Solicitor-General, and I hope will be calculated to meet the King's intention and the approbation of the two Houses.

"SAMUEL ATHILL. "Council Chamber, 9th June, 1825."

The following Addresses were afterwards presented to his Honour, in reply to his speech:

ADDRESS OF THE BOARD OF COUNCIL.

"To his Honour Samuel Athill, Commander-in-Chief for the time being in and over his Majesty's Islands of Antigua, Montserrat, and Barbuda, &c. &c. &c. May it please your Honour, "We, the Members of his Majesty's Council, most fervently coincide with your Honour in the just congratulations you have offered to the country on the arrival of the Lord Bishop of Barbados and the Leeward Islands in this part of his Diocese-an appointment we appreciate as a distinguished mark of the Royal favour and paternal care of our most gracious Sovereign for the welfare of this distant portion of his Dominions, and we hail it as an event intimately connected with the future happy destiny of the Colonies.

"This Board, therefore, will always afford its cordial co-operation and zealous support to any measure conducive to the great objects of his Lordship's mission, thereby facilitating the important ends of his office, and recommending ourselves to his beneficent consideration.

(Signed) "Samuel Warner, President; Meade H. Daniell, William Byam, Paul Horsford, Samuel William Harman, Kean B. Osborn, Samuel Harman. "Council Chamber, 9th June, 1825."

ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF AS

SEMBLY.

"To his Honour Samuel Byam Athill, Commander-in-Chief for the time being in and over his

Majesty's Islands of Antigua, Montserrat, and Barbuda, &c. &c. &c.

"May it please your Honour,

"We, his Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the House of Assembly of the Island of Antigua, embrace the earliest opportunity afforded us, of expressing our very cordial congratu lations on the arrival in this Island of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and of testifying the sentiments of profound respect and veneration which we bear towards the sacred office his Lordship has been called upon to fill.

"Warmly devoted to the wise and most excellent Ecclesiastical Institutions of the Parent State, we have viewed, with emotions of gratitude and delight, the benevolent intention of our gracious Sovereign more effectually to promote our spiritual welfare by extending to us the allimportant benefits of the Episcopal controul and authority. That so accomplished a Divine should have been selected for this exalted trust, enhances much to us the value of so signal a proof of his Majesty's favour and condescension. We devoutly pray that his Lordship may long continue to adorn his present eminent station, and that by his example and precept, and his judicious and well-directed ministry, he may be the happy instrument of diffusing more widely, through all classes of the inhabitants of these Colonies, a pure and correct knowledge of the consolatory truths, and of the inestimable blessings, of our holy religion.

"Your Honour may confidently rely on the cordial co-operation of this House in any measures which his Lordship may now, or in future, consider expedient for the promotion of his pious designs; and that it will proceed without delay to take into its consideration the Bill about to be introduced by his Majesty's Solicitor-General for transferring the Ecclesiastical Powers to his Lordship.

' By order of the House, NICHOLAS NUGENT, Speaker.

"June 9, 1825. "NATHANIEL HUMPHRYS,

Clerk of the House."

As soon as the Assembly had retired to its own House, the Orders of the

Day were postponed, and the Bill alluded to by the Commander-inChief for transferring the Ecclesiastical Powers to the Lord Bishop, was introduced, and, the standing rules and orders of the House being dispensed with, it went through its several stages, and was sent up to the Council for its concurrence. It also passed that Board, and having received the sanction of the Executive, has since been published.

The attendance of the Assembly having been a second time required in the Council Chamber, by the Commander-in-Chief, the House again went up, when the Lord Bishop addressed both Houses, returning them thanks for the kind expressions towards him contained in their Addresses to his Honour, and for the promise they had made of co-operating with him in the objects of his mission; assuring them they might rest satisfied he should consult their interest in any measure he might submit to their consideration. He stated, that although his visit to this Island had been unavoidably delayed, it possessed an equal portion of his care; and although the Islands were divided by the sea, he hoped, by establishing a constant intercourse, to knit more closely the bonds which bound them. His Lordship then proceeded to take a candid and comprehensive view of the various objects of his important mission, and urged the necessity of erecting additional places of worship, and the residence in each parish of a clergyman of the Established Church, with a suitable number of catechists and teachers for the moral and religious instruction of all who required it. His Lordship also re commended the formation of a District Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and proposed the establishment of a Central School in the town of St. John, for the maintenance and education of the children of indigent families; and stated that in the very last conversation he had had with his Majesty's Ministers, he was instructed to pledge the assistance of Government towards carrying into effect any laudable improvement in the Colonies. "His Lordship was at the same time pleased to say," observes the Colonial Reporter, "and we

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As connected with these Addresses, which display so incontestibly the open arms with which the West Indians in general have received the Bishop sent to preside over their religious concerns, and the good spirit prevailing amongst them to forward all his views, and therefore how much they have been calumniated by our religious factionists, we have great pleasure in stating, with reference to Barbadoes, that, in September last, the House of Assembly passed an Act, by which they have provided munificently for the improvement of all the Churches and Parsonage-houses in the Island, having appropriated 2,000l. to the parish of St. Michael's, and 1,000l. each to all the rest.

POLITICAL RETROSPECT.

RUSSIA. The various accounts which have been received of the death of Alexander, all tend to establish the fact that his death arose from the operation of natural causes; and Russia, barbarous as she may yet be, is not to be reproached with the destruction of the best and most enlightened Sovereign by whom she has been governed. The character of Alexander is now a subject for the historian, and is not to be canvassed in our scanty space. But we may observe, that his policy was Peace that he sought to introduce amongst his subjects those arts and sciences which constitute the superiority and happiness of civilized life; and above all, that he anxiously

endeavoured to extend the advantages
of education to every class of his sub-
jects throughout his empire. The
renunciation of Constantine is one
of the most curious facts in the history
of Princes. The reasons which induced
this step are involved in much ob-
scurity, and it is vain to speculate
respecting them.
We shall simply

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detail the facts of which we are assured. In 1822, Constantine addressed a letter to Alexander, requesting permission to renounce his right to the throne. As the ground of his wish, he says, all the circumstances of his situation induce him to adopt the measure:" and he refers to an obligation into which he entered "voluntarily and solemnly"

The

on the divorce of his first wife. answer of Alexander is dated a fortnight after, and gives his brother "full liberty to follow his firm resolution." Then follows a manifesto by Alexander, acknowledging as his successor his brother, the Grand Duke Nicholas.Copies of these documents were sealed up, and deposited with the principal authorities of the Empire, with a superscription that they were not to be opened till the death of the Emperor. When their contents were made known on the happening of that event, Nicholas refused to accept the throne and to acknowledge the renunciation of Constantine. Accordingly, Nicholas and the chief Officers of State took the oath of fidelity to Constantine as Emperor. Immediately that Constantine heard of the death of his brother, he dispatched letters to his mother and his brother Nicholas, stating his resolution to adhere to his former act of renunciation, and acknowledging Nicholas as Emperor. However decisive this act was, Nicholas refused to publish it, till Constantine had been informed of the oath taken by him and the authorities of the Empire. But this intelligence produced no change in the resolution of Constantine. Accordingly, Nicholas has ascended the throne of the "Empire of all the Russias, as well as the thrones inseparable therefrom"-that of the kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland. In his first proclamation, Nicholas resolves to tread in the footsteps of Alexander, and expresses a hope that his reign may be but a continuation of his.

FRANCE.- Notwithstanding the fluctuations on the Stock Exchange at Paris, which have necessarily produced much distress, the French journalists testify the progress France has made in internal improvement since the Peace. Industry has been receiving for several years an extension which becomes daily more and more important. Roads are opened in all parts of the kingdom; canals are dug; bridges built; manufactories erected; mines of coal and metals are opened; and France is covered with more commodious and more elegant dwellings, the number of which built annually, for the last five years, is tenfold that of any period for more than a century

before. As a nation, France is flourishing and contented, and consequently pacific. The Ministry may indeed expect considerable opposition in the ensuing session, opposed as it is by both the jure divino faction and the Jacobins. But although M. de Villele has failed in some of his financial schemes, he is popular with the nation at large; and were he removed tomorrow, there is no party, nor conjunction of parties in France, which could possibly furnish another Administration in any degree effective or lasting.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.-The Message of the President developes the prosperous state of that country. Its national debt amounts to eighteen millions, and its annual expenses are about one million and a half; while the revenue is daily becoming more productive. The President details and proposes many improvements in the economy of the State, and particularly enforces the importance of an effective naval force. "It were, indeed, a vain and dangerous illusion to believe that in the present or probable condition of human society, a commerce so extensive and so rich as ours could exist and be pursued in safety, without the continual support of a military marine. A permanent naval peace establishment, therefore, adapted to our present condition, and adaptable to that gigantic growth with which the nation is advancing in its carcer, is among the subjects which will deserve your serious deliberations." Such is the ground upon which these states are increasing ther navy-the last addition to it being ten sloops of war, which, for strength and weight of metal, are equal to our forty-two gun frigates. A Naval College has been founded at West Point. The defects of the judicial system are distinctly avowed. The President observes, that in 1791 the population of the States was four millions, and in 1821 it was about ten millions; and yet the judiciary department is confined to its primitive organization, and, consequently, is quite inadequate to the urgent wants of a still growing community. Might not a similar remark be made with respect to our judicial

establishment? The circumstances of England are somewhat changed since the times of Alfred and her first Edward, when twelve judges sufficed for the administration of justice. The message of the President does not omit that important topic, the moral and intellectual improvement of the people. "Roads and canals, by multiplying and facilitating the communications and intercourse between distant regions and multitudes of men, are among the most important means of improvement. But the first, perhaps the very first, instrument for the improvement of the condition of men, is knowledge; and to the acquisition of much of the knowledge adapted to the wants, the comforts, and enjoyments of human life, public institutions and seminaries of learning are essential."

REVENUE. The revenue of the last year has fallen short of that of the preceding year by 238,000l.; the deficit is wholly in the last quarter, and is chiefly in the excise. The duties on coffee, malt, spirits, tobacco and wine, in particular, are deficient. The embarrassments in the commercial world may no doubt have postponed the receipts of duties in some instances, which will appear in the succeeding quarter: and the change of the duties on spirits and wine would doubtless induce the retail dealers to delay increasing their stocks; hence, then, we may expect the succeeding quarter will benefit by the deficiency of that which is just past.

COMMERCE. We regret that our internal commerce is yet in a very low and depressed state. Confidence is in a great measure restored, but the effects of those unbounded and improvident speculations, to which we alluded in our last Number, are still felt. Great distress is experienced in some of the manufacturing districts, from the limited demand there is for all kinds of goods. A list of the colonial imports of Liverpool has been published, which distinctly shews the extent to which speculations have been carried. We shall instance the article,

of cottou only. In 1825, 700,000 bags were imported, while the average of the five preceding years gives only 460,000 bags; and taking the importation of the whole kingdom, there is an increase in one year of 257,000 bags, or nearly 65,000,000 lbs. It is obvious the demand could not be equivalent to such an increase; hence the prices of cotton are at present nearly nominal; hence the ruin of nearly all those who have embarked in such rash schemes. It is curious to observe the progress of the use of cotton in England. It is not too much to assert, that as the use of the raw material has increased a hundred fold within the last seventy years, so, in spite of all the economy in the ap-. plication of labour to the manufacture, the demand for workmen has increased in far more than an equal proportion.'

The average weight imported in 1765, 1766, 1767... 4,000,000 lbs. In 1804, 1805, 1806. 59,000,000 lbs. In 1822, 1823, 1824. 153,000,000 lbs.

The increased use of the raw material gives, however, a very imperfect view of the augmentation of the national wealth created by this manufacture. At first cotton was chiefly used in the fabrication of the heavier kinds of goods; as jackets for grooms and labouring men, barragons, &c.; afterwards, cotton velvets, velveteens, and various fancy cords; in all of which the weight of the cotton was great, in proportion to the finished commodity. At a late period, when mule spinning became perfected, muslins were introduced, which were gradually made of a finer and finer texture, till, it is said, a single pound of cotton, not worth more than 3s., has been converted into a piece of muslin worth double the number of pounds. About forty years ago, all the muslins worn in America and in Europe were procured from India; but at this time, considerable quantities are shipped for that country heyond those which are required for the increased home demand, and for other foreign markets.

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