^58 Retrospect of French Literature. 



consulr.r establishments. 3, the origin 



of consular jurisdiction. 4, of con 

 bdU for the regulation of iiuernul com- 

 Hierce, and the municipal adcninistration 

 «f districts. 5, the nature and extent 

 of consular jurisdiction. 6, of the con- 

 lular system of the United States of 

 America ; extracts from treaties and 

 conventions between the government of 

 file United States and those of other 

 nations, concerning the rights, privileges, 

 »jid duties of consuls, 7, the Fieiich 

 consular system. lie concludes this ar- 

 ticle with ohservations, which possess 

 great importance in a national point of 

 ▼iew. 



"The French republic, on the 1st of 

 Messidor, 11th year of its reign, decreed 

 riiat its laws, statutes, and fe;4ulation5, 

 fxpressly forbid the consul from carrying 

 on any species of trade, directly or indi- 

 rectly, or forming a commercial asbo- 

 cifltion on his own account; and «e 

 say with justice, that our consuls, iince 

 tlie regeneration of our repjblic, have 

 every-where shewn themselves fiiithful to 

 its principles. No»wheredo they mingle 

 ill the interests ol coinnierce, except to 

 protect, extend, and render it mure and 

 more favourahlo to their felloxv-cilizens, 

 and never for their own benefit. The 

 commercial agents of nations allied to 

 Trance, even those of Russia, the Teu- 

 tonic, Hans, and Austrian States, have 

 disinterestedly hastened to imitate this 

 £ne example. 



It is quite otherwise with the English 

 consul, who every «tliere trades on his 

 account, or that of the government, to 

 the injury of his fellow. citizens, every 

 ivhere drenching them even to loathing. 

 One while a public agent, another a 

 simple individual, — he employs every 

 n>eihjd to accumulate a fortune and in- 

 crease the fiscal of his isle. Monopoly, 

 brokerage, stock-jobbing, arbitrary taxes, 

 all is ;igreeable. He is a trader in Smyrna, 

 a CKunnissinner in Holland, and a pirate 

 in Barbary." — p. '127. 



This sweeping sentence is levere, and 

 we hope it is unjust; and, that English 

 consuls may be able to wipe ofT the stain 

 thrown upon the whole body, by a person 

 whose censure is the more important, as 

 Ills rank and learning and official capa- 

 city add coiibiderable weight to iiis asser- 

 tions. 



Chap. Vni. the English Consular Sys- 

 tem IX. the Dutch ditto — X. Prussian 



,jiitQ XI. Danish ditto- — XH. Portu- 

 guese diUo-'^UIf Austrian diUo; and 



he concludes with a curious and valuable 

 article, containing a short account of tha 

 lives and writings of the m»5t distmgoished 

 consuls of difffcicnt countries: and, cer- 

 tainly, had M. Warden had this list in 

 his vitrw, when he wrote the passage we 

 have quoted, he would have umdilied his 

 censure, and ailovvi d that at least some 

 English consuls form splendid exceptions 

 to his geneial rule. 



His work is, notwithstanding this seve» 

 rity towards English consuls, not onlj 

 important as a history of consular esta- 

 blishments, but also as a vade-mecum for 

 all those who are, or hope to become, 

 consuls ; or who have, or may have, rela» 

 lions with them. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



A Chorogruphicul and Statislical Dew 

 scfiption of the District of Colunibia, 

 the Scat of the General Government of 

 the United SuUis, uilh an engraved 

 Flan of the District and View of the 

 Cttjntai ; by D. B. Warden, SjC. Paris, 

 1816. 1 vol. 8vo. 



Who is not interested in a description 

 of Columbia and the City of Washington, 

 a name that never fails to recal so cnany 

 images of unsullied virtue and real glory. 

 Mr. Warden traces the statistical history 

 of Columbia iVom the period of its be- 

 coming the permanent seat of govern- 

 ment in 1801; he describes the progress 

 of its a>;ricukure, its canals, its rivers, 

 its comoierce, and dwells with pleasure 

 on the embryo metropolis of the vast 

 Republic of America; and, when he re- 

 lates the Vandal attack on the infant 

 citv by the English in 1814, who de- 

 stroyed to the amount of 1,215,111 dol- 

 lars, in burning the capital, the presi- 

 dent's house, and the public otfices, we 

 are ahnost inclined to forgive his ani. 

 mosity ag.iinst the conduct of Englistt 

 consuls. It is worthy of remark, that 

 the author is equally severe upon the 

 Americans, whe.e he thinks they deserve 

 it. What shall we think of b jarders in 

 boarding-houses or taverns throwing off 

 their coats in the heat of summer, and 

 in winter their shoes to warm their feet 

 at the fire ? customs, he observes, whicb 

 the climate only can excuse. 



Mr. Warden's work contains notices 

 on the fedeial government of the United 

 States, &c. and concludes with a I'lorula 

 Columbiana, or catalogue of the plants, 

 &c. of Columbia. It is a curious little 

 volume, and recommends itself warmlj 

 Lo genital pitttoiiage, 



GENERAL 



