LEADING ARTICLES ENTERED IN WAREHOUSE IN NEW-YORK AND WITHDRAWN, DURING THE QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1, 1847.

From this table it results that, of the $17,000,000 of dutiable goods imported from January 1st to April 1st, $1.400,000, charged with average duties of 40 per cent., went into warehouse; and there remained unpaid $187,000 of duties on those importations but to be paid,—showing, that the duties accruing to the government, so far from being less than last year, are actually $233,000 more than in the same period under the old tariff. While the average of the duties paid in the period referred to is but 26 per cent., that on the goods warehoused is 40 per cent.,-showing that the effect of the warehouse is to relieve the merchants from the immediate payment of the highest taxes.

The first quarter of the year, being that in which the goods arrive mostly to meet the spring trade, is that in which the least advantage is derived from warehousing facilities. It also appears, that the average time in which the goods remain in bond without the payment of duties is four months. Hence, it appears that commercial capital has been saved an advance of $500,000 in one quarter, which is equal to an actual saving of $70,000 to importers, if we consider that that capital has been employed at ordinary profits instead of remaining idle. The process of warehousing is yet in its infancy, and results so great, so early in its existence, indicate that its complete success is certain. Many difficulties that arise in detail require time to overcome. These grow mostly out of the proverbial opposition of merchants to innovation. Those who have been accustomed to inconvenience choose rather to adhere to it than to change their habits, even for the better. The greatest difficulty now experienced in the New-York warehouse arises from the indisposition of offices to insure goods in it. In one large building, which contains at times more than $1,000,000 worth of goods, the single risk is too great. Most offices refuse more than ten to fifteen thousand dollars on a single risk. This would require, at times, more than one hundred offices to cover the stock. This difficulty very much retards the progress of the system. The risk is really not great, and with proper precaution might altogether be obviated Congress might pass a law authorizing the Secretary to charge an extra 1-16 or 1-4 per cent., and assume the risk of all goods warehoused. This would obviate the difficulty and make the warehouse attractive. The benefits which commerce will derive from this system are immense. The whole commerce of the two American continents may be insured to American vessels, not by absurd navigation laws, but by so facilitating trade that foreign vessels cannot compete with United States enterprize. The perfection of the warehouse system is that which, more than all other plans, will tend to this object.

The advices from England, down to the 3d ult., were of a contradictory nature; but on the whole, indicate returning health in money affairs. The principal apprehension that existed was on account of the large exports of bullion to the United States. The exchange at the latest dates continued adverse to England; but the money markets on the continent being evidently more easy, the rate of discount at Frankfort-on-the-Maine was 4 per cent., and at Berlin 43 per cent.; a change for the better was perceptible. The purchases of corn, by France, at the north and east, were very extensive, and caused a drain of specie; but the Emperor of Russia having purchased of the Bank of France, by convention, an amount of 50.000,000 francs of French rents, a credit in favor of the Bank of France, to the extent of near $8,000,000, was thus created in St. Petersburg, and the bills drawn against

it were placed in the London market, aiding the repayment of the sums borrowed by the Bank of France. The following were the comparative exchanges in London and the continent at the latest dates :

The rates of bills on Paris, it would seem, is about the same, now that the repayment of the loan is making, that it was when the loan was made. The operations of the bank under this fluctuation appears to have been as follows:

Dec. 5...
Jan. 2....

"1 9..

16..

"" 23.

Mar. 6..

Securities.

Public.
£

Private.

Public. Private. circulation. on hand.
£
£

£

£

Bullion.

£

£ .12,807,417..13,853,212..8,612,488... 8,303,523..19,866,805..8,402,300..15,002,873

12,826,362..15,071,820..9,990,624...7,903,959..20,031,185..8,227,085..14,951,572

.12,757,326..14,464,948..5,860,631...9,784,767..20,836 845..6,715,255..14,308,022

..12,757,326..14,450,711..5,034,189..10,339,726..20,679,370..6,545,965..13,948,681

.12,757,326..14,489,657.. 4,668,489..10,335,835..20,608,090..6,167,170..13,442,880

.11,990,079..16,905,705..6,571,731...9,288,661..19,279,145..5,714,740..11,595,535 13.......11,990.079..17,358,712..6,716,162...9,536,137..19,232,200..5,554,140..11,449,461

20.

11,990,079..17,650,874..6,471,623...9,962,436..19,069,465..5,418,475..11,231,630

27.......11,990,079.-17,824,355..6,616,287...9,403,132..19,444,426..4,876,015..11,015,583

This table presents curious results, and contains the germ of the uneasiness that exists publicly, but shows confidence on the part of the bank; as thus: the public see that the bullion has diminished £4,000,000 since December, and that the amounts engaged for the United States are at least £1,000,000 more than appears in the return. The cause of the large drain is the corn trade. The harvest is yet distant, and great quantities must yet be imported. Hence the questions ariseWhen will the drain cease? To what extent will it be carried? The reserve of notes in the bank is continually falling-keeping pace with the decline in bullion. A loss of £2,000,000 more of bu'lion will leave the bank with too few notes to pay the quarterly interest on the national debt, and private deposits are declining. In the face of this state of affairs the bank remains inert. It has sold, of the public securities it holds, only £1,000,000, and it has increased private discounts £3,600,000, or nearly 25 per cent.-keeping the rate of interest low. This shows great confidence, and we think the result will justify that confidence. We think that a further loss of £4,000,000 bullion would not give cause for serious uneasiness.— The amount in hand would, even then, be higher than in 1835 and 1836. But the indications are, on all sides, that so large a demand will not be made upon it. Already, from Odessa and the leading points of Europe, orders new and large have appeared in England for goods,-being the legitimate result of the prosperous state of the agricultural interests. That this is the case in the United States, to some extent, we have already remarked; and the leading houses in the trade look forward to an American business more extensive in the fall than for many years.This will doubtless be the case. The proceeds of our unexampled sales will be returned in dutiable goods instead of so large a proportion of specie.

A great reaction had, it appears, taken place in the grain markets, by reason of the fine planting weather which had prevailed, and the extensive arrivals of supplies. This fall in produce, which was still high, had favorably affected cotton,

1

which had advanced, as well under the improved appearance of the export trade as of that of the home markets.

The news of the decline in prices abroad did not, however, affect prices here, by reason of the short supplies of produce on the seaboard, and the enhanced supply of vessels, which caused a decline in freight equal to the decline in the value of the articles abroad, leaving the shipper where he was before. The canals of NewYork were not opened until May 1st, in consequence of the continued frost-a circumstance which greatly retarded supplies. The multiplication of the means of transportation will, by cheapening freights, ensure a continuance of the export trade in farm produce much more profitably to the producers than has hitherto been the

case.

GOSSIP OF THE MONTH.

PROFESSOR Cellarius having published a Treatise on the Terpsichorean Art, the Tract Society, of New-York, offered a prize of fifty dollars for the best Essay against Dancing; the which prize was awarded to the Rev. Mr. Carey, of Sunderland, Massachusetts-Heaven help his competitors, if the learned Divine's paper deserved the reward! Accuse us of Atheism, if you will, but we must confess that we see no connexion between dancing and deviltry; nor have we ever been able to discern, that theatricals and third-tiers are inseparable; in fact, we do not even believe, that Thomas Crehore manufactures tickets of admission to the Infernal regions. The Tract Society object to dancing! why not to singing? Loose fellows sing loose songs. Why not to violins? the fiddle-bow is the sceptre of the Goddess of Dancing. Church members ought not to read; for all editions of the classics are not expurgated. Why not take Iconoclastic ground, and write down pictures and statues, because ladies and gentlemen are often represented scantily clad? A sanctimonious paper in this city, whose singular mixture of commerce and divinity always reminds us of the money changers in the temple, once preached a crusade against the vignette on a bank-bill, a miniature woman, naked to the waist, as likely to undermine the moral foundations of society, and make money doubly the root of all evil. How hopeless must be the depravity of mankind, if their morality cannot withstand such trifling temptations! and how very hopeless the narrow-minded, we might almost say, prurient illiberality, which insults society by supposing them dangerous. We shall be read out of meeting, we know it; we shall be classed with the goats, and no longer with

"Young Obadias,
Davids, Josias,

Who all were pious,"

as the primer tells us; but, nevertheless, in the face of this exclusion, we maintain, that this Sunderland Treatise has the same claims to usefulness, as the "Bill for the better observance of Easter Monday," which C. Brooke Dringwall, Esq., M. P., prepared for Parliament. Discourses on doctrinal and ethical points are apt to assume the high prerogative of exemption from criticism. Noli me tangere is the motto of the saints. Every "professor" who wields the pen, claims a share of the Papal infallibility; but when a man takes to type and paper, his readers have at least the right to judge, whether be makes a strong argument, or succeeds in proving the reverse of his case. The Reverend Mr. Carey writes against a natural, universal and innocent amusement. We have read him from cover to cover, and laid him down more impressed than ever with the harmlessness of dancing, since fifty dollars could not purchase one reason against it, even in Massachusetts: Still more, no anti-saltatory texts can be found, though the Devil can quote Scripture" at a pinch. Christians must not dance, because dancing consumes time and money,

:

and their time and money belong to the Lord. Sinners must not dance, for "there is something supremely shocking in the idea of a dancing sinner." The daughter of Herodias danced before Herod, after which Herod cut off the head of John the Baptist-consequently, young ladies ought to beware of Cellarius and CharruaudQ. E. D. The chief objection to publications like this tract, is the injury they do to religion. A man cannot pass all his time in devotional exercise; all prayer, and no play, would ruin the best of us. Our New-England ancestors, Bancroft informs us, beguiled the weariness of a long summer voyage by three sermons a day but the spirit of 1620 exists no longer. Draw the rein too tight and the steed will plunge ;-a fever of profligacy is the inevitable successor of a chill of Puritanism. It is better to let "O, be joyful, be the Christian's Psalm, and leave the sad Indian to incant the devil with tears and screeches." But this is not all. The minor religious pen-work, such as Tracts, and Bible Society Reports, falls almost entirely into the hands of a class of men, who are aptly termed by the "profession" "pious indigents ;"-pious applies to their intentions, indigent, to their intelligence and to their finances. These persons, in their anxiety to do good, allow their zeal to froth over in ranting, and constantly employing the most theological words to express their trivial ideas :

"Hide the sacred in the silly."

In fact, they have built up a kind of devotional slang. This sounds hard; but let any man, not a "professor," read and judge for himself. The Sunderland divine relates the following stories, to illustrate the dangers of the "light fantastic toe:"—

"I was once called, 'says an aged pastor,' to visit a young lady who was said to be in despair. She had, at some time previous, been serions, and had, it was hoped, resolutely set her face Zionward. In an evil hour, some of her former associates called on her to accompany them to a ball. She refused to go. The occasion, the company, the parade and gayety, were all utterly dissonant from her present feelings. With characteristic levity and thoughtlessness, they employed persuasion and ridicule; and finally so far prevailed, that, with a desperate effort to shake off her convictions and regain her former security, she exclaimed, Well, I will go, if I am damned for it! God took her at her word! Instead of the bloom and freshness of health, there came the paleness and baggardness of decay. The wan and sunken cheek, the ghastly, glaring eye, the emaciated limb, the sure precursors of approaching dissolution, were there!"Despair! Death! Damnation, &c., &c.

The case of a young man, a leader in the ball-room :

"To shield himself from the influence of a revival, at the time in progress, he sought to multiply dancing assemblies, and to draw others into them. But he could not escape God's judgments, if he could his mercies. He was suddenly laid upon a bed of sickness. Death seemed near. In awful distress he begged for the mercy he had before despised. When thus borne down, hopeless of recovery, he seemed penitent, became exceedingly joyful, earnestly and solemnly warned his associates, and it was thought by pious friends, a most remarkable case of death-bed conversion."

The old story, "When the devil was sick, the devil a saint would be," &c. What happened to this young man? Let us hear the sequel!—

"Unexpectedly he recovered. With returning health, his religion so rapidly disappeared, that the first thing he did was to persuade his associates to make arrangements for another ball. Godless as they were, they were shocked at the proposal. But his persuasion overcame their scruples. The evening came, and in the midst of the glare and revelry of its scenes, he fell to the floor as if touched by the finger of an offended God: was borne a raving maniac to his home, which he had scarcely reached, when death sealed up his history for the final judgment.”

Charruaud! Patriarch of dancing! how happens it that you have escaped the Bloomingdale Asylum for so many years? And you, O, Angelina and Sarrau! Have you no fears, lest the corner of Canal-street and Broadway should become a miniature Sodom, and burn you and bury you in its ashes! In Franklin County the righteous object to tales and stories. A reporter of the Franklin County Bible Society meets with an aged man who was fond of novel reading. He inveighs against the atrocious old wretch, as follows:-"What will he do with his passion

beyond the grave? Can he throw aside God's truth, and have fiction in heaven? Can he have it in hell? though more filling there than in any other department of Eternity!" Are these gentlemen insane, or is it only methodism in their madness? Anna, the prophetess, and Joanna Southcote, never ranted or canted more painfully than they do. As in poetry there is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, so in religious compositions there is but one from the sacred to the blasphemous; and this step the "pious indigent" constantly takes, with a blindness and a boldness which excites the sneer of the scoffer, and the regret of the sincere well-wisher of morality and faith.

THE ARTS.

THE present Exhibition of the National Academy of Design, seems to us, on the whole, decidedly better than that of the last or any previous year. This is not the opinion generally entertained, nor did we become convinced of the superiority of the pictures of this year, until after a second or third careful examination of their merits. There are fewer pictures which strike the eye forcibly at the first glance, and fewer pleasing female portraits than usual; and this is probably the reason why so many leave the rooms, after a short first visit, with a feeling of disappointment. But if there be fewer pictures which obtrude themselves upon the notice, there are also fewer which offend the taste, and many more which are above mediocrity. With one or two exceptions, our best known painters, in each department of the art, have better pictures on the walls this year than last; and many of the younger members of the profession have made great and solid improvement since they last appeared in public.

A great deal is said, and with seeming reason, as to the number of bad pictures exhibited, and it is asked, why do the managing committee of the first School of Design in the country, admit so many wretched daubs to appear upon the walls? But those who speak thus, forget that the annual exhibitions of the Academy of Design are not prize exhibitions, nor exhibitions of pictures which come up to a certain fixed standard, high or low, nor exhibitions of the works of members of the Academy, but of all pictures sent by living artists, and which have not before been exhibited in the Academy's rooms. These exacting critics reason without their host, seemingly ignorant that the object of this annual display, is not merely to please the public and the successful artist by an exhibition of the best works, but to give the public some idea of the yearly progress of the art, and both the artist and the public the opportunity of comparing the works of one painter with those of another. So long as the present abilities of the mass of our painters are fairly exhibited, the object of the Academy would be attained, if no picture exhibited were better than a swinging sign-board.

Obviously nothing can be easier than to go through the rooms of such an exhibition, and come out talking about superficiality and extravagance. It would be strange to a miracle, were there not a large proportion of the pictures which would afford excellent opportunity for the common-place mongers of criticism to utter an infinity of platitudes and truisms about low standards of art, lack of sufficient study of nature, want of high and noble purpose, lack of character and tone, and the like. But to such we are always inclined to say, with Beatrice: "Why will you be ever talking, Signor Benedick? Nobody marks you." He who can visit such pictures, as a great number of those now on the Academy's walls, and talk of nothing but faults, has little of the honest judgment and quick perception of a trustworthy critic, and less of the true feeling of an artist. We are sorry that there are some such, as well as others who can find excellence, but who threaten beforehand remorseless dissection of any unfortunate works which do not please their high mightinesses, at the same time charging all who come under their bloodthirsty scalpels, not to wince, for wincing will not mend the matter; and finally, uttering the fearful warning to those who heed not their advice, that the consequences of their stubborn folly will ever after worry them like a nightmare. What need of all this? It does no good, either to the artist or the public. If heeded, it discourages the one and disgusts the other, and if unheeded, it brings the critic, and, in so far as he is concerned, criticism, into contempt. For our