ART. 3. The laws, decrees, and ordinances which are not opposed to the present decree remain in full force. ART. 4.-Our Minister of Agriculture, of Commerce, and Public Works, and our Minister of Finance, in their respective departments, are intrusted with the execution of this decree. Done at the Palace of Fontainebleau, on the 22nd of November, 1853. NAPOLEON. Countersigned by the Minister Secretary of State for the Department of As English ships employed in the trade between France and England have been since 1826 assimilated to national ships, it will only be necessary, as regards iron, to place the former duties in comparison with those now to be paid on importation by French vessels, English vessels being in the same category:— "The Right Hon. the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Plantations have received, through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a French Imperial Decree, from Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, regulating the restitution of the duty on unwrought iron used in the manufacture of steam engines, of which the following is a copy: "ART. 1.- A partir de loi Juin 1854, la restitution du droit d'entrée sur les fontes brutes étrangères, employées à la fabrication des machines à feu de 100 chevaux ou plus, dont l'installation à bord des navires destinés à la navigation maritime aura été dûment constatée par les agents des douanes, s'effectuera à raison de 300 kilogrammes de fonte par cheval de force, y compris le déchet de fabrication, et de 4f. 80c. par chaque 100 kilogrammes. 66 6 ART. 2.-Sont maintenues en vigueur les dispositions de l'ordonnance du 30 Mai, 1839, qui ne sont pas abrogées par l'Art. du présent décret.'" Times, 8th April, 1854. In 1854 there were 4111 kilometres of Railway open. CHAP. XI. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. DURING the war of the Revolution the commerce of the United States was interrupted, not only with Great Britain, but in a great measure with the rest of the world. The Americans were then compelled to depend almost entirely upon themselves for supplies, not only of arms and munitions of war, but of those articles of common consumption which they had previously imported from Great Britain and elsewhere. Those articles which their soil would not produce, or which they were unable to make, they were obliged to obtain at great risk and expense from other countries, or to be content without them. Encouragement was given to all the necessary manufactures, and the zeal, ingenuity, and industry of the people supplied the place of a foreign market. At the close of the war, when the independence of the States was acknowledged, their commercial, as well as their political, situation was new, and they had many difficulties to encounter. During a contest of seven years their commerce was annihilated shipping nearly destroyed, and public credit impaired-a general constitution for the American States was framed. They entered into a perpetual union, or confederation, with each other, for their mutual defence and advantage. They agreed that delegates should be appointed by each State, to meet in Congress on the first Monday of every year; that no State should be represented by fewer delegates than two, or by more than seven; that each colony should have a single vote; and that the laws and decisions of the Supreme Assembly should be obligatory on all the provinces under its jurisdiction. Each State, however, was to be governed wholly by its own legislature, and with the enactments of that legislature the Congress had no right to interfere. It was not difficult to perceive that this constitution had not within itself sufficient energy to produce and ensure a vigorous administration of affairs. The Congress had no authority over individuals; it had no power to force even the States to a compliance with its injunctions; and in case of any quarrel it could not prevent them from making war upon each other. Difficulties occurred, and distresses were multiplied on every side. The army, though disbanded, had received only four months' pay. The debts contracted by the Congress, as well as by many individual States, had not been discharged, and, therefore, were daily increasing; and the government possessing no revenue, could give no effectual value to its paper currency. Taxes were imposed by some of the provincial legislatures; but as they were far beyond the means of the inhabitants, and levied with the utmost rigour, they occasioned very general discontent; and though it had been fondly expected that, after the termination of the war, the commerce of the United States would revive, it was still embarrassed and languid. The vast influx of goods, also, drained the country of money, and some of the importing States levied duties for their own advantage. In this situation all became sensible of the insufficiency of the general government, and of the necessity of vesting Congress with the power of regulating trade and commerce, and bringing into operation the energies and resources of the country for the general benefit. In consequence of a proposition from the State of Virginia, commissioners from that State, and from the States of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, met at Annapolis, in Maryland, in September, 1786, to take into consideration the "trade and commerce of the United States; to consider how far a uniform system, in their commercial intercourse and regulations, might be necessary to their common interest and permanent harmony, and to report to the several States; such an act, relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by them, would enable the United States, in Congress assembled, effectually to provide for the same." This report and address was sent to Congress, and to the several executives of States not represented at Annapolis; and, in consequence of the recommendation contained in the address, by a resolution of Congress, of 21st February, 1787, a general convention of the States, with the exception of Rhode Island, assembled at Philadelphia, and, after choosing General Washington for their president, they proceeded to the arduous duty which they had undertaken to perform :-" To take into consideration the situation of the United States, to devise such further provision as shall to them appear necessary to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union," &c. On the 17th September following, a new constitution was agreed upon, and by it the general government, among other important matters, were vested with power to "regulate commerce, and to levy duties, imposts," &c. On the 4th day of March, 1789, the first Congress, elected according to the new institute, met at New York, having previously, by the unanimous voice of the provinces, elected General Washington to the chief magistracy of the American nation. No sooner had this new form of government, with the father of his country at its head, begun to operate, than a new vigour seemed to be diffused through all the provinces. Trade and commerce revived-public and private credit was restored -a new spring was given to agriculture and manufactures and new security afforded to the various pursuits of honest industry. The finances were arranged—the public debt was gradually reduced a national bank, with a capital of 10,000,000 dollars, was established - the arrears due to the army were paidsmall permanent force was organised-the administration of justice was decisive, but equitable; and, though some disturbances arose on account of the taxes, or the way in which they were collected, yet the peace and prosperity of the colonies were, happily, secured. a From the establishment of the government the progress of national, as well as individual, wealth kept pace with the increase of population; and, until the commencement of com mercial restrictions, in December, 1807, and the declaration of war against Great Britain, in 1812, no nation, it is believed, had ever increased so rapidly in wealth as the United States. The well-known orders of the British Council, and the Berlin and Milan decrees, almost destroyed American commerce. Great Britain declared France to be in a state of blockade, and the ports of Holland, with the whole Continent, from the Elbe to the Weser, as well as the ports of Italy and Spain, were included in this declaration. The British islands were declared to be in a similar state of blockade, and American vessels, bound to their coasts, were denationalised, confiscated, or burned on the high seas. England insisted that the United States should renounce all trade with the colonies of the enemy, from which they were excluded during peace, and prevent their citizens from trading with France, or with any powers adopting or acting under the French decrees; and all American vessels bound to any port on the Continent, from which the British flag was excluded, were seized and condemned. Those sailing to or from France, with American or French produce, were declared liable to seizure if they did not put into some British port, and then pay for permission to sail for the port of original destination. Under these declarations more than 900 American merchant-vessels were captured by the English in time of peace. On the other hand, France declared that the British islands, being in a state of blockade, all commerce with them was prohibited, and every American vessel bound to England or her colonies, or that paid a tax, or suffered a visit, was condemned as British property. By the Bayonne decree, all vessels sailing under American colours were considered as British. American vessels destined for Sweden, Russia, and Denmark, were captured by Danish cruisers, and condemned in their courts, notwithstanding the most unquestionable evidence of their neutrality, and their destination to countries in amity with France, the ports of which had been declared open to American vessels. In the ports of Naples American vessels were also sequestered. American property, to the amount of 30,000,000 of dollars, |