pelled to retreat to their towns, and there became victors. And we now learn that these brave Spaniards hesitate, perhaps prudently, to attack Marshal Ney's corps on the Ebro. Although according to the ac counts given in the newspapers, their army is three times as numerous as the French, and possesses besides a large proportion of regulars. As an answer to your representation of what I said with respect to distressing the inhabitants of Lisbon, I shall state what I did say: "there was no great reason to believe that a French army would starve, while there were between 2 and 300.000 Portuguese inhabitants in Lisbon; people whom we went to assist not to distress, to defend and not to assail;" and if Janot was to be reduced by blockade, the inhabitants of Lisbon, would first suffer by want of provisions, whatever number of gibbets Dalrymple might erect round Junot's camp. Is it even a very great infraction of the laws of war for a general to subsist his army at the expence of the inhabitants who are his enemies? I beg leave to remind you of the manner in which you have treated this subject in some of your former Registers. In order, however, to remove every pretext for cavil, I will suppose myself to have said, that in the event of assault, every ball the English fired would kill more Portuguese than French; and that Junot would not have been restrained by the feelings of humanity from practising any species of torture and cruelty on the inhabitants, friends or foes, in order more successfully to resist the attack of the English.You say that for our general to refrain from attacking them on that account is the determination of a coward. "What! did not Junot well know, that at last he must become really responsible for all the cruelties he committed upon the people of Lisbon?" Is Duhesme restrained through fear of the consequences from distressing the inhabitants of Barcelona? And did not the celebrated Earl of Peterborough and sir Cloudesley Shovel hesitate to attack this Barcelona, the inhabitants being in the interest of Charles, and not daring to lift a hostile finger, because, as they affirmed, they were overawed by the duke de Popoli's garrison of 5000 men? Was general Schinettau to be intimidated by threats from burning the fine suburbs of Dresden, and otherwise distressing its inhabitants, when Marshal Daun appeared be. fore it with the whole of his army after his victory at Hoehkirchen? And was Daun considered a coward, for not attacking, with very superior numbers, the Prussian army in and before Dresden? No; and it was the threat to destroy the place, and partial execution of that threat, that induced Daun not to ruin his friends equally with his foes, and save the Prussian army. Did the terror of Russian sabres and halters induce the French to desist from firing from the ci tadel of Turin, on its inhabitants in the interest of the allies, who had driven them from their outworks, and got possession of the town? Was hanging mentioned in any article of the convention concluded there? It is indeed superfluous to relate any of the atrocities of which the French have been guilty for no man will believe that they are to be deterred by a gibbet from committing any cruelty, if thereby they can secure to themselves any advantage. And the mar dering of a few thousand Frenchmen in cold blood, would not much alleviate the fufferings of the inhabitants. It is however incontrovertible, that whatever portion of distress it is possible for an army to avert from friendly inhabitants, is a circumstance, in that degree at least, exculpatory of the com mander, in not resorting to those measures which would have produced that distress. It is not alone, perhaps, sufficient to justify the total abandonment of an object, in itself highly important to be gained, (to sher which I have before stated the conduct d the great Earl of Peterborough at Barcelona), but it is a very considerable item in the cat logue of these obstacles, that collective would wisely determine a commander to re linquish that object. I wish it to have its due weight and no more. I have now answered all your observations, and will again ask you candidly to declare, whether it was reasonable to expect an unconditional surrender of the French in Portugal, as the consequence of the battle of Vimiera; knowing that Junot was enabled to retreat to his position? If we had gained no victory, we must have occupied the same ground, and possessed nearly the same advantages. We gained glory, and little more; and this glory so dazzled our countrymen, that they considered as inevi table, what before they had deemed scarcely possible. It was this victory at Vimiera that made them exclaim: -Occidit, occidit, Spes omnis et fortuna nostri nominis. The public knew the amount of the force sent against Lisbon; and I ask, whether, (without recapitulating all the particulars) the relative situation of the armies, agree ably to the information the public then had and since confirmed, was such as to render unpardonable the granting of terms to the French? I think I have advanced reasons sufficient to prove the contrary. If they are futile, let their futility be proved; if they are convincing, let it be candidly avowed. If their fallacy shall be established, I shall not be ashamed to acknowledge my error; and I can assure you, I never hold the candid in contempt. Truth and impartiality are my objects; they were, I suppose, yours, when you robly advocated the cause of Lutz, and firmly supported the effects of,, popular indignation at the peace of Amiens. Do not suffer yourself now to be biassed by popular clamour; whatever part of it arises from erroneous opinions, resist and correct as far as you can; whatever part of it is just and reasonable, sanction and support; but, let your determination be the result of inquiry; and do not let it be asked, -Cur non Ponderibus modulisque suis ratio utitur; ac res Ut quæque est, irà suppliciis delicra coercet? The case seems to be this: the total expulsion of the French from Portugal is the grand object for which an English army is sent there; the difficulties in accomplishing this object are great, if the enemy determines to risk his own ruin in opposing them; but, so important is the object, they must be encountered. If however it can be obtained by grauting terms to this enemy, which terms, on balancing the advantage derived, and the injury sustained, both in present effect and probable consequence, will secare only the same benefit that would have resulted from adopting the severe alternative of force, it is not culpable to grant them; and in whatever degree the disadvantages resulting from such a Convention can be proved to exceed the benefits derived, in that degree the commander who signs it is culpable; and, I am sorry to say, there are some articles in it so mortifying and degrading, that I cannot conceive it will be possible to produce satisfactory reasons for having acceded to them. There is a portion of infamy attached to this Convention of Lisbon which I fear can never be wholly effaced. Grief and disgrace have invaded us, and I cannot yet discover how they are to be altogether expelled.I have the honour to remain, with great respect, &c.-C.-25th October, 1808. THE LATE HARVEST. SIRAs you are always watchful to direct the public attention to important topics, the intrinsic interest of a subject will be a sufficient claim to your notice though it should not obtrude itself by the popular clamour of the moment. The state of our Stocks of Grain, the prospects of our growing Crop, and the probability of foreign supplies, were matters of inquiry and examination in your Register pending the Distillery Bill. It appeared to you, because much had been said both in the house and out of it, that the subject had been completely exhausted; but, in the different views which were exhibited, the peculiar and distinguishing characteristic of our present situation appears to have been overlooked. This, in fact, consists in that very extraordinary extension of the consumption of wheat in this country which of late years has so greatly outstripped the growth of the other countries of production. It is not that our own growth has not increased in a ratio proportioned to this extended consumption that we have cause of alarm, for the reverse is notoriously the case. In a work recently published, entitled " An Inquiry into the State of National Subsistence as connected with the Progress of Wealth and Population, by W. T. Combe," a historical view is exhibited of the progress of this increase, and it is there shown that the growth of wheat has doubled itself within the present reign, and, from evidence equally unquestionable, he has shown, that the increased production of other countries has borne no proportion to this amount. However adequate, therefore, our usual and ordinary growth may be to the support of our population, yet, in case of a failure, we can nowhere look for a stock adequate to supply our wants; for the redundant produce of other countries, which might supply a deficiency in a growth of four million quarters of wheat annually, would be utterly inadequate to cover a proportionate failure where the usual growth exceeded eight millions-We must therefore admit the justness of the remark of the author above alluded to (p. 18, Svo. edition), that "when the consumption of a country greatly exceeds the general produce of the neighbouring countries of exportation, it is from her own produce alone that a stock can be formed at all adequate to her probable wants on failure of her own growth. The surplus produce of the whole world," it is added, would afford small relief to such a population as that of China."-Without following this writer, who seems to speak from a practical acquaintance with the subject, through all the causes connected as they are with the existing corn laws, and the peculiar situation of the country which have prevented the formation of such stores, it must be acknowledged, that the removal of these difficulties becomes, under the present circumstances of the country, a matter of very urgent necessity. The practicability of encouraging such stores, without checking the operation of the dealers and farmers, is demonstrated, and it certainly becomes the imperious duty of the legislature, from the peculiar fickleness of our climate, which, But alarm to the whole nation. If the failure was at all general or considerable, the consequence might be an abandonment of na tional interests, and a sacrifice of national honour, to obtain a participation in stocks, the amount of which, at least, probably, would afford us a very inconsiderable relief." BREWERIES. SIR,-Persuading myself that a communication, which may contribute to remove error of any sort, will be favourably received by you, I am induced to offer the following observations on a subject of ge neral coucern, inasmuch as it relates to the purity, and other good qualities, of the national beverage, Beer.-What I am desirous to impress on the minds of the com munity is, that the production of uniform. ly good beer is not an arbitrary matter, as is commonly supposed, and which may be accomplished by any and every persun who choses to take on himself the office of a brewer. For, a man may be willing t sacrifice a large allowance of the choices materials, without having the power, after all, to make a palatable, early, and spe taneously fine, and consequently a w some ralt liquor, unless he is provi with, and fully understands all the uses of some far more secure guides than discriminations of his own senses alone w prove. A studious observation of the powerfully different effects of the different degrees of heat in the water used in the several extractions, and of the heat in fer menting the worts so extracted from the malt, is of the very first importance and necessity. The last is an operation of such influence in the case, that, in conjunction with the precautions required to be observed in the mashings, fermentation determines the early or the later period of natural tiveness, as well as a distinction of flavour ac cording to the several stages of its progress, and, withal, fixes the principles of preser owing either to our insular situation, or northern latitude, or both, combined with the comparatively limited extent of territory, has been a source of scarcity and famine in every period of our history," to turn their I remain, Sir, &c.-COLUMELLA. attention to this subject.-Nothing but that natural propensity in man, to forget past evils in the possession of present good, could prevent the effect which these repeated lessons ought to produce on our conduct we seem to be governed by a blind tu ty or a desperate confidence. The harvest is now over, and the universality of the complaint of mildew puts it beyond a doubt that the injury is extensive. In some places the produce is estimated at a third less than the average crop, in others a fourth, and in some a fifth. If we could suppose the deficiency on the whole to be an eighth, this would amount to at least a million quarters of wheat, more than double our average importation, and which has never been exceeded but once in the annals of our history, and that after two successive failures.-The price of wheat has already risen at least 25 per cent, or a full fourth higher than they were before the harvest, and had it not been for the uncertainty of the American embargo, there can be little doubt that this rise would have been more considerable. "It is not the magnitude of our foreign supplies, so much as the manner of their coming into our markets, which affects our price." A hundred thousand quarters of wheat are not more than an eightieth part of our annual consumption; but such a supply arriving suddenly from America either in London or Liverpool, or both places, would depress dhe price very considerably, and affect those of the whole kingdom. This circumstance renders the holding of stocks extremely dangerous, without some sort of encouragement from government, and consequently lays us open to every casualty. This rise is already felt by many of the manufacturers both invation in beers. Hops afford the basis of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where a partial stagnation of trade exists, notwithstanding the new channels that have been opened to us. We must hope, however, that the words of the writer before alluded to may not prove prophetic : "The least consequence that would attend even an inconsiderable deficiency, in the total absence of all measures of precaution and prevention, and the almost inevitable exhaustion of the stocks, which would be a consequence of such neglect, would be a considerable distress to almost every rank and a most serious this last mentioned and desirable property; but all the benefits of the hops are destroyed by a few hours only of too long protract ed, or otherwise erroneous, fermentation.— The several degrees of heat, criticaly suitable to these two leading parts of the process, rest on the brewer's experience and judgment; and, when discovered and determined on by him, are applied, most precisely, by the use of properly construct ed thermometers. But these heats cannot be judged of, to any tolerably sufficient degree of correctness, by the perceptions of 1 the touch alone. Neither is the exact quantity of saccharine matter, afforded by the malt, which is the foundation of all the strength in the beer, to be discriminated by the taste. It is, however, necessary that the precise amount of such sweet should be constantly ascertained; because, without a knowledge of this product, (which varies Surprisingly according to the different quality of the barley, and the method of malting it) the brewer cannot maintain that uniformity in the strength and flavour of his beer, which is the only true criterion of a well regulated practice -This valuable information is afforded by a suitable hydrostatical instrument; which shews, by the specific gravity of small portions or sam ples of the different worts, and by their several gauged quantities, the total amount. of such saccharine or fermentable matter contained in each brewing of ualt, to a thousandth part, or less. It will be evident to every reflecting mind, that, without a knowledge of the uses of these two instruments, so often as a practitioner succeeds in producing good beer, he is indebted to chance alone and that he retains no sure means to repeat his fortunate operation. Time, indeed, will produce much change and, generally, some improvement in beers brewed at such random; a remedy which may be afforded, and is, also, greatly relied on in family brewings. But this cannot be otherwise than highly disadvantageous to the public brewers in the present state of their trade, by causing a necessity for a burdensome stock of beer, prepared from barley at an excessive price, and loaded with enormous duties on the beer, and on the malt.-The employment of the two instruments is now become pretty general in the trade; yet the advantages derived from them are but partial--always varying with the degree of experience and judgment possessed by the different practitioners, in establishing a set of rules for conducting the operations. It is, therefore, severely injurious that, owing to the generally prevailing opinion, that the business of brewing is merely practical, and therefore performable by persons of the ureanest education, those, who have I been somewhat more successful than some others, in discovering the beneficial points and use, of the instruments, have become the objects of misrepresentation and detraction; and this, directly through the igno fance of the uninstructed part of the trade, er of other persons who are equally unin formed in the matter. Much calumny has been disseminated in a charge of their using other articles than "malt, hops, yeast, and water," or it is chiefly pointed at a supposed. use of substitutes for the two first. I shall endeavour to shew that the brewer who expends his money in any such substitutes, or in any extraneous matters whatsoever is most despicably ignorant of every advantageous principle of his business, and of his immediate interest in a pecuniary point of view; for that malt and hops, are not only the most beneficial, in every respect, but, also, the cheapest articles that can be used in a brewery. It is well known to the Distillers, as well as to the intelligent among the Brewers, that it would be no more, futile to attempt to make saleable bread from sa vdust, than to make any sort of vinous liquor (such as beer) from any matters whatsoever, except from some matter which is saccharine. For, no other subjects will yield an extract which is capable of the vinous fermentation; without such fermentation no strength or spirituosity can be produced; and the quantity of ardent spirit, (provided the fermentation has been properly conducted) is ever in proportion to the quantity of sweet contained originally in, and therefore extractable from, the subject or matter employed; and so very exact is this proportion of the spirit to the sweer, that the distillers can ascertain, to mathematical certainty, the precise nuinber of gallons of proof spirit which will be yielded by their fermented liquor, (called by them wash) previously to committing the latter to the still. The same rule extends also to, and is practicable in, the brewery. Of all the saccharine matters whether domestic or foreign, procurable in this kingdom, the three cheapest, comparing the produce with the cost, are malt, treacle, and sugar. The proportions which these bear to each other, are, as 9 bushels of malt, so are 196 lbs. of sugar, or 240 lbs. of treacle.-The introduction of the smallest quantity of either of the last two, subjects the cominon brewer, by the excise laws, to the penalty of £200. If then it were even desirable to substitute such sweets for malt, could, let me ask, any useful quantity of such bulky matters be introduced into any considerable brewery, without the knowledge of every individual employed on the premises, who, as informers, would partake of the penalty? Would, therefore, any prudent man render himself liable to such mean tyranny, or to such exposure Supplement to No. 20, Vol. XIV-Price 10d: 2 B and such penalty? With regard to treacle, must not every person, however unacquainted with the practice of brewing, perceive, that a very small portion of this coarse and black article could not fail to destroy the sale of all beer required to be pale; and, as to sugar, the cost of 196 lbs. is 107s. while a quarter of the very best pale malt is to be made or purchased at 20 per cent. less; even under the present unusually high price of barley. Which, therefore, of all the saccharine matters, is the most desirable one to a brewer, in producing the most saleable beer, at the least cost to himself?-The use of hops in brewing, exclusively of their desirable flavour, is to preserve the worts from becoming acid; as they would, without this preventive, at some seasons, even in the first stage of the fermentation. For, the introduction or the omission of this ingredient constitutes the chief difference between the operations of making beer and vinegar from malt. More powerful bitters than hops, may perhaps, be procured, but the bitter is of no use without the preservative property. Gentian and quassia are wholesome and useful, as medicines; but, if introduced in beer, they cannot fail to cause a rapid decrease in the brewer's trade; owing to their total want of the fine aromatic flavour, as well. as of the preservative qualities discovered, hitherto, in hops alone. Hence there can be no inducement to an understanding brewer to use any substitute whatsoever for hops; since it must be plain to every one, that a prosperous trade is no otherwise to be gained, or to be preserved, than by -pleasing the palates of the consumers; and no other matters will afford so saleable a flavour in beer, as choice hops united with well made malt. But, the most important of all the considerations connected with the case, relates to the wholesomeness, or otherwise, of the different malt liquors, brewed in the kingdom. It is owing to the general ignorance among the majority of practitioners that scarcely any beers which are brewed by them will become naturally fine in less time than twelve months; when, they are, most commonly, hard, perhaps crabbed, and are, accordingly, deemed by Il the medical men unwholesome. On the other hand, that species of malt liquor is allowed, and found to be the most wholesome, which becomes spontaneously bright at an early period, and will so continue, without tendency to acidity during as many mouths as may be required for consuming it. These desirable properties are to be obtained, constantly, only by a knowledge of the proper heats which are suited to the critical parts of the process. While uniformity in strength, proportionate to the price obtained for the beer, is gained by the right use of an hydrostatical instrument. It will, probably, be remarked, that the well known importa tions at the custom-houses of certain articles, supposed to be used in the brewery, esta blish the proof that such matters are used in beers. It may be so. I am not attempting, nor am I at all desirous, to defend the practices of the grossly ignorant. What I affira is, that no truly intelligent brewer would so waste his money to no other object than to deteriorate his beer, and thereby impede the sale of it.-In situations where public breweries abound, it is little imagined how very scarce they are in other parts of the kingdom; insomuch that it was stated to a commit. tee of the house of commons, about eighteen months ago, by Mr. Jackson, one of the commissioners of excise, that the number of common brewers amounted only to 1,400 while the brewing publicans were so nume rous as 23,700!!-If the community could be prevailed on to believe, that a generally successful practice in brewing is really and truly a matter of science, and not attain ble without laborious study, and the constant assistance of accurately made instruments which last can be of no use whatso, unless they are accompanied with so portion of mathematical knowledge, it would be evident that the greater bulk ( not all) of the 23,700, together with very many of the 1400, in the country, must be utterly incapable to apply the instruments, and to conduct such an intricate process, with any approach to certainty, and, that, unable to account for the disappointments which they must incur, wholly ignorant, also, of any correct means to judge of the comparative values of the very best mate rials for brewing, and the very worst, they are open to the insinuations of the venders of the drugs alluded to, who, it is wel known, hesitate at no falsehoods to per suade these uninformed people that the suc cess of the reputable practitioners is owing to the use of the contemptible trash for which they pressingly solicit orders. These, therefore, if any, are the brewers who, through the grossest ignorance, be come the purchasers of ingredients, utterly inapplicable to the purpose; and which can have no other effect than to increase their difficulties, as well as their expences.-On the other hand, the most wholesome, and generally preferable malt liquors, are chiefly to be expected from the efforts of men of better education, engaged in con |