ENGLAND AND BRAZIL. [From the Constitutional.]

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 6, 12 July 1845, Page 4

ENGLAND AND BRAZIL. [From the Constitutional.]

Tlie commercial treaty between Great Biitain and Brazil, couohuled in .827, for 15 \ears, and subsequently prolonged to 1844, will expuv.in a few da)s, Ihe Cabinet of London has done all it posbibl) could to get it renewed, but m vain, 'ihe new Uiaziliau tat iff has been in force foi for some da\s, and it affects equally nil kinds o! good I*,1 *, his a measure most iala! to European commerce in general, and to that of England in parlicuhu, — it is above all, the lesnlt of the legislative enactments adopted here and on tiie oilier side of the channel lespectmg sugar. Brazil can oiler Euiope, in exchange for the manufactured goods which she sends out, only sugar, coffee, raw skins, inlaid wood work, and some qualities of cocoa, threads, and tobacco in Fiance, lbieign sugars are sin -taxed rather heavil) in the lnteiests of our colonies, and our beet-toot sugar. In England, sugar piod need by slave labour, is altogether piohibited. This lias been done under the mask of philanthropic, but in leality it onl> serves as the prelude to ihe^ accoiiiplishment of ceitaiu views of political economy of the Cabinet of London j for, had it been doiid in the interest of the abolition of 6laver>, it would have been applied to all tro- 1 pical produce indiscriminately, and particularly' to coitou c llivated in the United Stales by the blacks ; and consumed chielly by the manufdctureis of Great Britain. It is easy to conceive, fii.a Biazil should adopt teprisals, when it belie Ids its &ugar i ejected by the two greatest markets in Europe ; find France not moie than England has been able to renew the treaties of co.u~ lneice which she had concluded with thai I'uwer, and which have now expired. The Getrrmn Association is in a dittcient position with respect lo Brazil. The countries of that Union, have no sugar colonies, and beet-root has noi >et aimed at such a developement amongst them as to requiie protecting measures. Therefore it is not unlikely that the Customs' Unom will succeed in concluding thq treaty w hicii France and England have in vain aimed at. An Envoy Horn Brazil is at present in Europe, to come to an understanding with the Cabine* oi Beihn; 'md should^he negociatious succeed, the new Bsazilian tatiff will be modified in favor ci the pioduce of the Zollverein. This taiiff is exceediugl) elevatea, and will he highly prejudicial to the commercial relations which Europe entertains uith Brazil. All fermented liquors are to pa\ an ud vaiosrm duty of 50 per cent., and ttiua the wines and brandies oi Fiance ate affect eu, as well as the malt liquors of England. Crystals and glass of all kinds, plain and coloured pup'T, iiuili!, objects of domestic consumption, &c, are to pay 23 per cent., ad valoicn. Chemical products, salt fish, iron and castings, tanned hides, sail incut, steel, and tin, are to pa) 20 per cent.; linen, woollen, cotton, and silk manufde-i-ues, ;;0 pel cent , and besides these duties, high as tnej are. the Brazilian Government has reserved to itself the power of imposing a difi'eiUul uuty on ceitain articles coming from conn-

tries where Hit' goods of Brazil also pay diderential duties Those conditions differ widely fiom t!io»o of the old tariff, and particularly fioin iliose stipulated in the jear 1527. According to that treaty, ,ill goods and produce, natural or inuiHitdi'tuied, of Great Britain or her colonies, v ere fieH> impoited into Brazil on payment of duties never exceeding 15 per cent., on the value. I It is worthy of remark, that several articles of Brazilian productions aie subject in England to duties miK'li moie elevated when the) aredeliveieil for internal consumption. According to the treaty these articles had no other advantage, than that of being bonded on the same conditions as similar pioductions of the English colonies. Here, it must be confessed is a very considerable I'l.aiifie in position, and this innovation will be »o much the more sensible in England that her exports for Biazil amounted to 50,000,0001". a year. The French exports, which in 1543, showed a special commerce of 15,000,000f. will equally | ■oulfcr by the new tariff. M. de Langsdorf has' not been more fortunate than Mr H.llis, the English agent, and in this struggle, the Cabinet of Beihn will, probahh , have the advantage over its competitors. What Brazil particularly wants ft om England is, manufactured goods of wool, toil on, &c , wrought metals, prepared skins, and fermented liquors. Germany is able to supply all these articles, wines excepted, and s>he has already made some successful attempts to accommodate several of her manufacturing products to the Biazilian taste.

The Cowgatr, Edinijukgh. — For some mouths past excavations have been making near l lie Cowgate, for the foundation of a suit of court rooms to accommodate tiie Lords Ordinary. The huildin^s are to nmsouih fiom the present buildings constituting our couits of law , and the sooth wall \tilj verge upon the spot wheie many of our readers will remember the Back -stairs ascending of 3 ore. la the space cleared by the woikmeu, a fragment of the first wall of the cit), (built about 1463; has been laid bare. About the end of September much more recher chh, weie discoveries by the workmen. South 1 fiom the fragment of wall, and directly so from the present buildings for the- first and second divisions of the Court of Session,— 14 feet below the surface of the earth, was found a range of strong wooden coffins, l>ing close beside each other, and containing human remains. In one, the skull contained the brains, still so far fresh as to si.ow (he vermicular form of surface. These coffins are straight in the sides, but had lids rising into a ridge in the centre. About the same time, 10 or 12 3 aids west from that spot, and also besond the line of the city wall, the woikmeu found imbedded in the ground, 18 feet below the level of the piesent Cowgate, a common shaped ban el of large, size, (six feet high), resting on one end, and 18 inches deep into a stiatum of blue cla3, with a massive stone beside it ; leading to the presumption that it had been a barrel kept for the purpose of gathering rain, having a stone step to enable any one to get to us top, and take out a supply of its eolith nts. The staves of this banel, are yet, for the most part, fresli and sound. Still faither to the west, near the bairel, at about the same depth, was. found a copper dish or basin, about 18 inches diameter, and six deep, having the rim slightly evasated. There can be no doubt but that these things have lain for several centuries undisturbed. The bodies would be a portion of those interred in St. Giles's churchyard, which was abandoned in the 16th century. The barrel and dish must have been part of the curta supellex <»f a citizen of'still earlier date. The Cowgate existed m 1470, however much earlier, and it was for some ages, the residence of the great. So large a copper dish could only belong to a person of some distinction. But the most curious inference from these discoveries is, as to the giadual rise of the level of the street in comsej of time. Some 3 ears ago, a street was found 12 feet below the present causeway of the Cowg.ite, near its eastern extremity; here we find, household articles seated still lower. This however, is common in all ancient cities, in consequence of the want of police 1 emulations in the middle ages Refuse and rubbish were laid upon the street, and not being removed, soon became trodden down, and thus raised < the soil. Even pavements were thus lost sight of Fresh accumulations continually taking place, the giound lose of couise, and in time the bases of buildings were accomodated to the new level. — Scotman.