ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 
engaged in avowed hostilities with 
the latter, could possibly have jus- 
tified. And if it be thus criminal in 
the Austrian to become an accom- 
plice in the plot, it is at least as cri- 
minal in the British merchant to 
tempt him to accede to it, or to 
avail himself of his concurrence.”* 
The following note is subjoined to 
the same passage which we have just 
quoted. ~ . 
_“ In the late war it was very 
common for British merchants to 
procure Austrian papers for their 
vessels, especially for those destined 
forthe Mediterranean; and during 
the same period many British ships 
were nominally rendered Russian” 
property in a similar way. 
** A similar mode of proceeding, 
though directly contrary to the laws 
of Great Britain, as well as those’ 
of morality, prevailed to a great 
extent during the existence of the 
late charter of the East India-Com- 
pany, which prohibited the sending 
of any commodities from England 
to the British daminions, in the East, 
except through the medium of the 
company. Butthe English merchant 
often saw great advantage to be de- 
rived from transmitting them through 
another channel against the com- 
pany’s consent. He therefore load- 
ed his ship, and ordered it to Os- 
tend to be covered. Being thus 
made in appearance Austrian pro- 
perty, it was enabled to land its 
cargo in Hindostan. The changes 
made inthe charter on its late re- 
newal have taken away the tempta- 
tion to such frauds, but the remem- 
brance of them may be useful ; and 
as the recital of a distressing event 
[*181 
resulting from an immoral practice 
proves sometimes an effectual mee 
thod of deterring men from pro 
ceedings of the same nature, I am 
induced to relate, though without | 
naming the parties concerned, a cire 
cumstance which lately took place. 
The laws, designing to throw obs 
structions in the way of those who 
might endeavour fraudulently to 
send goods to the East Indies, had 
disqualified every tradesman who 
sold any articles to a merchant, and 
knew they were smuggled thither, 
from recovering the price hy a legal 
process. A London dealer furnished 
a merchant with a large quantity of 
goods, being conscious that they 
were to be sent to the East Indies 
by means of Ostend papers. Soon 
afterwards distrusting the responsi« 
bility of the purchaser, he thought 
it prudent to sue out a commission 
of bankruptcy against him ; and in 
the capacity of petitioning creditor 
took an oath of the reality of the 
debt. The other party retorted his 
attack, by threatening to prosecute 
him for perjury. The tradesman 
finding that the law would not re- 
cognize such a debt, and that he 
should certainly beoutwitted,shrunk 
from the impending disgrace and 
shot himself.” 
The following advice is given to 
the manufacturers. ‘ ‘To have ree 
course to every reasonable precau- 
tion, however expensive, by which 
the health of the workmen may be 
secured from injury, and to re- 
frain from prosecuting unwholesome 
branches of trade, until effectual 
precautions are discovered, is the 
indispensible duty of the proprietor 
_ * Probably too, in case of capture, an oath would be necessary to authenti- 
cate what the papers falsely averred; and there is much danger that it would not 
be scrupled to procure the release of the ship. The mershant’s criminality is 
increased by his being aware of such a temptation, 
[*M 3] 
of 
