MERCANTILE MISCELLANIES.

AN UNFORTUNATE SUBSCRIBER TO OUR MAGAZINE. ENCLOSED in the letter which we publish below, we received a draft on a house in New York for $25 for 5 years' subscription to the Merchants' Magazine. We are not surprised that our friend has come to the determination to discontinue the work after such a series of misfortunes. Four times, it will be seen, the writer forwarded funds for the liquidation of our demand; and four times, either from the neglect, failure, or the death of the parties entrusted with the matter, the funds were misapplied. Had the writer adopted the course of remitting a draft, as in this instance, all would have been right. We hope the experience of the writer will be of service to others, and induce them to adopt the only sure coursee—that of remitting their subscriptions direct ;“FREEMAN HUNT, Esq. St. Louis, May 6, 1847. "Herewith I hand you enclosed 'check' No. 20,340, L. A. Benoist & Co., on Messrs. Corning & Co., for twenty five ($25) dollars, payable at sight. Please apply the amount in payment of my subscription to 'Hunt's Merchants' Magazine,' from July 1st, 1842, to July 1st, 1847, and forward your receipt, and discontinue it at the expiration of the current volume, ending with the number for June next.

"I do not discontinue my subscription from any dissatisfaction with the work-the numbers are always welcome and interesting visitors; but I have been peculiarly unfortunate in the matter of my payments. Twice I sent to friends in New York $5 each-they omitted to attend to the matter, and afterwards failed, and thus that went. Subsequently I sent $10 by a friend, requesting him to call on the others to whom I had sent, and get their receipts from you, or the money back, and pay you up in full. This gentleman was taken sick, and died on the way, and that was lost.

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Late in March I sent drafts to New York to make sundry payments-among them the amount due you. Owing to the non-payment of one of the drafts, as I learn by letter to-day, your account was not paid. I now take a sure course, by sending direct to you."

DEFERENTIAL DUTIES.

TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH OF M. FREDERIC BASTIAT, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE of France.

A poor husbandman of the Gironde had raised a vine with great care. After much

, anxiety and labor he produced a cask of wine, and in the satisfaction which he felt, no longer remembered that he had earned it by the sweat of his brow.

“I will sell it,” he said to his wife, “and with the proceeds will buy the yarn with which you can make our daughter's trousseau" The good countryman went to the town, where he met a Belgian and an Englishman. The Belgian said to him “Give me your cask of wine, and in exchange I will give you fifteen packets of yarn." The Englishman said, “ Give me your wine, and I will give you twenty packets of yarn, for we English spin cheaper than the Belgians." But a custom-house officer who was present, objected. "My fine fellow," said he, "exchange with the Belgian, if you please; but it is my business to prevent your exchanging with the Englishman." "What," said the countryman, "you expect me to be satisfied with fifteen packets of thread from Brussels, when I can have twenty from Manchester?" "Certainly; do you not see that France would lose, if you received twenty packets instead of fifteen?" "It is hard for me to understand,” said the wine-grower—“ And for me to explain," replied the custom-house officer; "but the thing is certain, for all the deputies, ministers, and journalists, are agreed on this point-that the more a people receives in exchange for a certain quantity of its produce, the more is it impoverished." He was forced to exchange with the Belgian. The husbandman's daughter had only three quarters of her trousseau, and the good people cannot yet understand how ruin could ensue from receiving four instead of three, and how they can be richer with three dozen napkins than with four dozen.

THE POSITION OF THE AMERICAN MERCHANT.

Our readers, like Oliver Twist, are asking for more, and therefore Mr. Parker will pardon us for taking from his excellent "Sermon of Merchants" another sample of its quality. The passage which we now present portrays, in a vein which characterizes all the pulpit efforts of the author, the position and power of the mercantile class of America. Mr. Parker is an Independent Congregationalist, who stands aloof from all sects-or rather, all sects stand aloof from him. He says some things which are not considered orthodox or evangelical by the theologians; nevertheless, his ethics find favor with many whose lives are less heretical than their creed. We dare say, however, that there are some who will find fault with the views set forth in the annexed excerpta.

"In America, the POSITION of this (the mercantile) class is the most powerful and commanding in society. They own most of the property of the nation. The wealthy men are of this class; in practical skill, administrative talent, they surpass all others. Now, wealth is power, and knowledge power-both to a degree unknown before. Knowledge and wealth are more powerful with us than with any other people, for there is no privileged caste-priest, king, or noble-to balance against them. The strong hand has given way to the able and accomplished head. Once head-armor was worn on the outside, and of brass; now it is internal, and of brains.

"To this class belongs the power both of knowledge and of wealth, and all the advantages which they bring. It was never so before in the whole history of man. It is more so in the United States than in any other place. I know the high position of the merchants in Venice, Pisa, Flórence, Nuremberg, and Basel, in the middle ages, and since. Those cities were gardens in a wilderness, but a fringe of soldiers bung round their walls. The trader was dependent on the fighter, and though their merchants became princes, they were yet indebted to the sword, and not entirely to their calling, for defence. Their palaces were half castles, and their ships full of armed men. Besides, those were little States. Here, the merchant's power is wholly in his gold and skill. Rome is the city of priests; Vienna for nobles; Berlin for scholars: the American cities for merchants. In Italy the roads are poor, the banking-houses humble, the cots of the laborer poor and bare, but the churches and palaces are beautiful and rich. God is painted as a pope. Generally, in Europe, the clergy, the soldiers, and the nobles, are the controlling class. The finest works of art belong to them, represent them, and have come from the corporation of priests, or the corporation of fighters. Here, a new era is getting symbolized in our works of art. They are banks, exchanges, custom-houses, factories, railroads. These come of the corporation of merchants. Trade is a great thing. Nobody tries to secure the favor of the army or navy-but of the merchants.

'Once, there was a permanent class of FIGHTERS. Their influence was supreme They had the power of strong arms, of disciplined valor, and carried all before them. They made the law and broke it. Men complained, grumbling in their beard, but got no redress. They it was that possessed the wealth of the land. The producer, the manufacturer, the distributor, could not get rich, only the soldier, the armed thief, the robber. With wealth they got its power; by practice gained knowledge, and so the power thereof, or, when that failed, bought it of the clergy, the only class possessing literary and scientific skill. They made their calling" noble," and founded the ARISTOCRACY OF SOLDIERS. Young men of talent took to arms. Trade was despised and labor was menial. Their science is at this day the science of kings. When graziers travel, they look at cattle; weavers at factories; philanthropists at hospitals; dandies at their equals; and kings at armies. Those fighters made the world think that soldiers were our first men, and murder of their brothers the noblest craft in the world; the only honorable and manly calling. The butcher of swine and oxen was counted vulgar-the butcher of men and women great and honorable. Foolish men of the past think so now; hence their terror at orations against war; hence their admiration for a red coat; their zeal for some symbol of blood in their family arms; hence their ambition for military titles when abroad. Most foolish men are more proud of their ambiguous Norman ancestor who fought at the battle of Hastings-or fought not-than of all the honest mechanics and farmers who have since ripened on the family tree. The day of the soldiers is well nigh over. The calling brings low wages and no honor. It opens with us no field for ambition. A passage of arms is a passage that leads to nothing. That class did their duty at that time. They

founded, the Aristocracy of Soldiers-their symbol the SWORD. Mankind would not stop there. Then came a milder age and established the Aristocracy of Birth-its symbol the CRADLE, for the only merit of that sort of nobility, and so its only distinction, is to have been born. But mankind who stopped not at the Sword delays but little longer at the Cradle; leaping forward, it founds a third order of nobility--the Aristocracy of Gold, its symbol the PURSE. We have got no further on. Shall we stop there? There comes a To-morrow after every To-day, and no child of Time is just like the last. The Aristocracy of Gold has faults enough, this feudalism of the nineteenth century, no doubt. But it is the best thing of its kind we have had yet; the wisest, the most human. We are going forward and not back. God only knows when we shall stop, and where. Surely not now, nor here.

"Now the Merchants in America occupy the place which was once held by the Fighters, and next by the Nobles. In our country we have balanced into harmony the centripetal power of the Government, and the centrifugal power of the People: so have national Unity of Action, and individual Variety of Action-personal freedom. Therefore a vast amount of talent is active here which lies latent in other countries because that harmony is not established there. Here the Army and Navy offer few inducements to able and aspiring young men. They are fled to as the last resort of the desperate, or else sought for their traditional glory, not their present value. In Europe, the Army, the Navy, the Parliament or the Court, the Church and the Learned Professions, offer brilliant prizes to ambitious men. Thither flock the able and the daring. Here such men go into trade. It is better for a man to have set up a mill than to have won a battle. I deny not the exceptions. I speak only of the general rule. Commerce and manufactures offer the most brilliant rewards-wealth, and all it brings. Accordingly the ablest men go into the class of Merchants. The strongest men in Boston, taken as a body, are not Lawyers, Doctors, Clergymen, Bookwrights, but Merchants. I deny not the presence of distinguished ability in each of those professions; I am now again only speaking of the general rule. I deny not the presence of very weak men-exceedingly weak in this class.

"The Merchants then are the prominent class; the most respectable, the most powerful. They know their Power, but are not yet fully aware of their formidable and noble Position at the Head of the Nation. Hence they are often ashamed of their calling; while their calling is the source of their Wealth, their Knowledge, and their Power, and should be their boast and their glory. You see signs of this ignorance and this shame: there must not be shops under your Athenæum, it would not be in good taste; you may store tobacco, cider, rum, under the churches, out of sight, vou must have no shop there; it would be vulgar. It is not thought neediul, perhaps not proper, for the Merchant's wife and daughter to understand business-it would not be becoming. Many are ashamed of their calling, and becoming rich, paint on the doors of their coach, and engrave on their seal, some Lion, Griffin, or Unicorn with partisans and maces to suit,-arms they have no right to, perhaps have stolen out of some book of Heraldy. No man paints thereon a Box of Sugar, or Figs, or Candles, an Axe, a Lap-stone, or a Shoe-Hammer. Yet these would be noble, and Christian withal. The Fighters gloried in their horrid craft, and so made it pass for noble; but with us a great many men would be thought the tenth transmitter of a foolish face,' rather than honest artists of their own fortune; prouder of being born than of having lived never so manfully.

In virtue of its Strength and Position, this class is the controlling one in Politics. It mainly enacts the laws of this State and the Nation; makes them serve its turn. Acting consciously or without consciousness, it buys up Legislators when they are in the market; breeds them when the market is bare. It pays them money and honors; pays them for doing its work, not another's. It is fairly and faithfully represented by them. They are made in its image; represent its wisdom, foresight, patriotism, and conscience. Your Congress is its mirror."

OFFICIAL SMUGGLER.

Alexander Dumas, in his " Impressions de Voyage," gives the following account of Beautte's system of smuggling, who stands at the head of the fashionable jewellers in Geneva:

"It is difficult to imagine a collection more rich in those thousand wonders which tempt a female heart; it is enough to drive a Parisian lady mad, or to make Cleopatra palpitate with longing in her grave. This jewellery is liable to a duty on entering France; but for a premium of 5 per cent, M. Beautie undertakes to smuggle it. The bargain between the buyer and seller is publicly made upon this condition, as if there

were no custom-house officers in the world. It is true that M. Beautte possesses wonderful address in setting them at fault; one anecdote out of a thousand will show the truth of the compliment which we pay him. When the Count de Saint Cricq was director general of the customs, he heard this skill, by which the vigilance of his officers was deceived, so frequently mentioned, that he resolved to assure himself whether all was true that was said of it. He consequently went to Geneva, presented himself at M. Beautte's shop, and purchased 30,000f. worth of jewellery, on condition that it should be delivered without paying the import duty at his residence in Paris. M. Beautte agreed to the condition like a man accustomed to bargains of the kind, and merely presented to the purchaser a sort of promissory note by which he undertook to pay the usual 5 per cent, besides the 30,000f. purchase money. The latter smiled; took up a pen, signed "De Saint Cricq, director-general of the French customs," and handed back the paper to Beautte, who looked at the signature, and contented himself with answering, with a bend of the head, M. le directeur, the article which you have done me the honor of buying, will arrive at Paris as soon as yourself.” M. de Saint Cricq, whose interest was excited, scarcely gave himself time to dine, sent to the post for horses, and set out an hour after the bargain had been concluded. M. de Saint Cricq made himself known to the officers who came to examine his carriage, told the principal one what had happened him, enjoined the most active surveillance on the whole line, and promised a reward of fifty louis to the officer who should succeed in seizing the prohibited jewellery. Not a custom-house officer slept during three days. During this time, M. de Saint Cricq arrived at Paris, alighted at his residence, kissed his wife and children, and went to his room to take off his travelling dress. The first thing he perceived on the chimney-piece was an elegant box, with the shape of which he was unacquainted. He approached it, and read on the silver plate which ornamented it, The Count de Saint Cricq, director-general of the customs.' He opened it, and found the jewellery which he had purchased at Geneva. Beautte had made an arrangement with one of the waiters at the iun, who, while assisting M. de Saint Cricq's servants to pack their master's luggage, had slipped the prohibited box among it. On his arriving at Paris, his valet, noticing the elegance of the case, and the inscription engraved upon it, has hastened to place it upon his master's chimney-piece. Thus the director-general of the customs was the first smuggler in the kingdom."

COMMERCE IN EGGS.

We copy from Skinner's Monthly Journal of Agriculture, a periodical conducted with singular ability, and of great value to the intelligent farmer, the following statement in regard to the egg trade of France :-

In the whole cycle of commercial statistics, we have not lately met with anything more remarkable than the account we find in the "Journal d'Agriculture Pratique et de Jardinage, on the Egg Trade of France. The editor says that it appears by official returns that in 1815, the number of eggs exported was not more than to the amount of 1,700,000 francs. In 1816, 8,800,000 francs; in 1822, 55,000,000; in 1824, to 99,500,000! The trade was then arrested, and experienced a retrograde movement. The exportation fell to 55,000,000 in 1830, but in 1834, it rose again to 76,800,000, and in 1844, it mounted up to 88,200,000. This mass of eggs weighed, at the rate of sixteen to a kilogramme, 5,213,000 kilogrammes; upon which the treasury realized 114,000 francs (about $25,000) export duty on eggs! England takes almost the whole of the eggs exported from France. Of the 88,000,000 above-mentioned, 82,500,000 have crossed the Channel. According to the official estimates, the consumption of eggs in Paris is 138 for each individual, which is very nearly 120,000,000 a year. We may double this estimate for the rest of France, without exaggeration; for, in the country, eggs and milk are aliments to be found on every table. We eat, instead of eggs and milk, vast quantities of solid fat meat--Americans having, as was expressively said by the Abbe Cornea, "bacon stomachs!"

The consumption, then, of eggs, in all France, may be safely put down at 9,300,000,000. If we add to this total that of the eggs exported, and one-hundredth in addition of these two numbers for the eggs reserved for reproduction, we find that France has produced nine billions and a half; and valuing each egg at the rate of a tenth of a cent, we have the enormous sum of 465,000,000 of francs, or nearly $100,000,000. Though this estimate may overrun the production in some of the Departments, it is nevertheless certain that the value which represent the annual production of eggs, is to be counted by millions of francs, and to most people must be a matter of surprise.

THE LONDON DOCKS.

In a work of Mr. J. J. Smith of Philadelphia, published during the last year, entitled "A Summer's Jaunt Across the Water," we have some interesting commercial information respecting the London Docks. He remarks" A visit to the London Docks is a fatiguing operation. A kind friend who knows the ways of the place accompanied us, having provided himself with that important document, an order to taste the wines. The dock we visited is not the largest, but probably contains as much in value as any other. There are 1,600 pipes of wine in the Crescent vaults alone, and 5,000 above. In the port of London, there are now in dock 100,000 casks of various sorts. A vat for mixing wines in the Crescent, will contain 10,200 gallons; here, old and new are mingled. In matters of temperance, the British nation is far behind us. We saw a number of the professional tasters hanging about; one, at least, I can vouch for it, has a peculiar discoloration of the nose. With lighted links, we travelled this underground world, and then emerged to the warehouses above; the construction of the whole is a triumph of ingenuity and strength. In the warehouses, great masses of ivory tusks are encountered; wax, tea, cork; sugar, in quantity beyond our previously conceived ideas-the very drippings from the hogsheads would be a snug fortune. This black liquid is carefully swabbed up from under foot, and purified. It is calculated that £50,000,000 sterling worth of goods are now in dock, occupying no less than 160 acres; 1,200 houses were pulled down to construct the London Docks alone; there are three others, still larger. We inspected rooms, full of silk in a raw state, having in them 3,150 bales, brought from Turkey, China, Persia, and Italy, and assorted into colors ready for the English manufacturer. One single room contained 1,500 large bales. The rooms containing Tuscan straws ready for plaiting, were very attractively neat. We saw half an acre of Cinnamon !"

REDUCTION OF DUTY ON FRENCH WINES.

A letter has been addressed by the Free Trade Association of Bordeaux, to Lord John Russell, urging the British government to reduce the duties on French wines to £10 per tun, or about 1s. per gallon. The advantages likely to be the result of the reduction now proposed, are thus set forth by the Bordeaux merchants:-1. To place an article, healthful when used moderately, within the reach of all classes in England. 2. To check the excessive use of spirituous liquors, it being well known, (as it has been observed in France,) that drunkenness is less general in those places where wine, being abundant and cheap, becomes an object of usual consumption. 3. To obtain a new means of selling abroad British produce and manufactures, which might be exchanged for our wines, either directly with France, or indirectly, through the medium of other countries. 4. To give a freight to the English vessels that come to our ports loaded with coals, but have almost nothing to take back with them, and are thus prevented from coming in much greater numbers.

BRITISH HOP TRADE.

The number of acres of land in Great Britain under the cultivation of hops, in the year 1846, amounted to 51,948. The duty on hops of the year 1846, amounted to £443,657. The quantity of British hops exported from Great Britain to various foreign countries in 1846, was 448,497 lbs. The quantity of foreign hops exported was 557 cwt., and the quantity imported 3,283 cwt., almost exclusively from the United States of America. The total number of pounds weight of hops charged with the duty in the several collections of the United Kingdom, in 1846, amounted to 50,704,025.

A NAIVE TRADE CONFESSION.

A highly respectable retail dealer, in one of the principal thoroughfares of London, justifying himself from the charge of ruinous dealings, said, very naively, "This is the fourth time, within two years, that I have sold off my stock at considerable loss, with considerable profit."