mittee a list of the names of the magistrates, counsellors, and office-bearers of the burgh, in each year, from 1788 inclusive to the present time; specifying opposite to each name, whether resident within the burgh all the year, or at what place, and whether a merchant-trafficker, or what employment or profession, if any.

3.-Ordered, That there be laid before this committee a return of the amount of taxes imposed by the magistrates and council on the burgh, under the head of cess, stent, or land-tax; and whether any greater sum has been levied than has been paid to government and expended in the collection, distinguishing the amount of each.

4.-Ordered, That there be laid before this committee a return of the amount of all other taxes, if any, imposed; distinguishing whether with or without the authority of parliament, and under what denomination the same have been levied, in each year, from 1788 to the year 1818 inclusive, and stating the application thereof.

5.-Ordered, That there be laid before this committee a return of the amount of annual revenues of the burgh, for the years 1788, 1798, 1808, and 1818, distinguishing the different heads under which the same are derived in each year, and the amount of each, and also distinguishing the permanent from the casual revenue.

6.-Ordered, That there be laid before this committee, a return of the total expenditure of the burgh, for the years 1788, 1798, 1808, and 1818; distinguishing the different heads under which the same have been expended in each year, and the amount of each, distinguishing the permanent from the casual expenditure.

7.-Ordered, That there be laid before this com

mittee, a return of all funds belonging to the burgh, to the latest period in 1818, to which the same has been made up; distinguishing whether arising from heritable or moveable property, distinguishing the particulars and the amount of each, and what lands, or other property of the burgh, have been alienated by the magistrates and council, since the year 1707, at what periods, in what manner, on what terms, and for what purposes.

8.-Ordered, That there be laid before this committee, a return of the annual amount of funds, in heritable property, bonds, or money, in the management of the magistrates and council, or office-bearers of the burgh, or either of them, as trustees or guardians, in virtue of the offices they hold, intended for the purposes of education, for jails, hospitals, charities, or for any public or benevolent purpose whatever, the dates of bequest, and whether any part of them have been sold, exchanged, or alienated, at what periods, on what terms, and for what purposes, and under what authority.

9.-Ordered, That there be laid before this committee, a return of the present amount of debts, owing by the magistrates and council of the burgh for the corporation, the annual amount of interest payable for the same, the periods when, and the purposes for which, these debts were incurred, and the nature and date of the securities given for the said debts; also, whether any and what measures have been taken to pay off the said debts.

A4. HAMILTON, Chairman.

1

On the distresses of the Times.

(From the Liverpool Mercury.)

TO THE EDITORS.

GENTLEMEN-In this great commercial town, we are in the habit of witnessing the periodical visitations of embarrassments, with almost as much regularity as the returns of the tides, which ebb and flow at our dock gates. While smarting under the pressure of calamity, will it not be well to weigh the causes, and, if we cannot obviate their present effect, endeavour at least to draw a practical result for the future?

We erect light-houses upon dangerous rocks, we place conductors upon heights exposed to lightning, insure against fire and shipwreck, and strengthen our doors against thieves and robbers, shall we then neglect the future safety of ourselves and families, or shrink from that rigid examination of a subject, which comprehends all that is dear and honourable to us in life? Let us now, even in the crisis of the disorder, probe these painful wounds, and consider, whether there are not many remedies, within our reach, to heal them.

The main origin of our present embarrassments is decidedly over-trading; and this over-trading proceeds from a variety of causes. 1st, From the too extended issues, and unseasonable contractions of Bank of Eng land paper. 2d, From the too great number of persons engaged in commerce. And, 3dly, From the almost unbounded extravagance of our mode of living.

And first, with regard to the issues of bank notes it is clear, that in the present situation of the country, we can neither satisfy the revenue nor conduct busi

ness without them. But as far as regards the safety of the trading community, it is expedient that this stream of wealth (whether real or artificial, we need not at present discuss) should not be suddenly checked, thereby instantly exposing shoals, on which thousands are precipitated to their ruin.

When issues are plentiful, every banker in the kingdom is eager to discount bills; difficulty in negociating paper being out of the question, capitals are raised beyond the expectations of individuals; these, tempted by facilities which only lure them to their ruin, speculate largely both at home and abroad! The powers of this mighty engine are felt over the entire globe, and in its first effects, large profits are realized, because, money being less valuable and less prized, the current commodities advance in price, and pass from one hand to another at an enhancement, which tempts still greater numbers to join in the dangerous game. Thus the crowd moves forward with exultation-all is conquest-defeat is lost sight of, till suddenly the Governor and Company of the Bank of England feel alarm-no matter from what cause-whether haunted by the spectre of a guinea, the ghost of a bar of gold or of silver, the shrill pipe of a Treasury call, the blast of war, or the enervating calm of peace-sufficient to say the alarm is felt, discounts are limited, issues are contracted, and the signal for retreat is sounded. Immediately the generals desert their troops; in other words, bankers turn a deaf ear to the entreaty of their customers to protect their bills. The mass falls into confusion -the giddy part of the multitude are ready to purchase safety on any terms-property, which gradually rose, suddenly falls; and the termination is very similar to the end of an engagement by land or sea, some moving off with flying colours, while others are re

corded in the or prisoners. it is too late!

Gazette, amongst the killed, wounded,
How many then bewail their folly, but

It is in these moments, that the retrospect of extravagance, and ostentatious living, becomes peculiarly cutting; and in this melancholy species of infatuation I observe with pain, that Liverpool stands conspicuous. The first gifts of fortune are the tempting baits, which that fickle goddess throws out, more certainly to entrap her prey. Like the eastern Vampire, she smiles over her destined sacrifices, and decks them with borrowed magnificence to the scene of their'immolation. In plainer language, people are led on from one extravagance to another-carriages are set up, houses are furnished with preposterous taste, splendid pictures and books, massy plate and costly wines, are purchased in profusion-neighbours vie with each other in folly, not to say madness. Instead of homely and contented meals, banquets, balls, routs, and masquerades, are given and returned, at most unseasonable hours; gaieties are kept up to the exclusion of sober thought and steady attention; even children are indulged with their entertainments, their evening parties and theatrical balls; as for our servants, they are almost all contaminated by the examples of their superiors, and taught to despise economy, labour, sobriety, and honesty. In this manner, the bubble swells with empty magnificence-a transient sun paints it with the colours of the rainbow-it burstsand the curtain falls upon a puppet show! Let any judicious inhabitant of Liverpool read this, and say whether it is not a true picture?

The conclusion of my remarks will be very short. To guard against fresh recurrences of evil, let me entreat the mercantile community of Liverpool narrowly to examine the grounds of every revival of trade,