we here dwell upon the arbitrary and compulsory system under which the natives of India are compelled to cultivate the poppy and produce the opium, and to deliver every portion of the drug to the company's servants, with whom the whole trade is a complete monopoly. A small portion of the opium produced under the supervision of the company is sold in the interior provinces of India, for native consumption; but the greater part of the whole product is gathered into two great factories, and sent down the river Ganges to Calcutta. Here it is publicly sold at auction, on regular market days, to merchants, who immediately export the most of it to China. The cost to the government of each chest of opium prepared for the market, is found to be about 300 rupees, or about $136. The price at which it is sold varies somewhat with the quantity in market and the demand abroad, but it generally is disposed of at 1200 or 1300 rupees per chest; an average of more than four times its original cost. As the price of the drug varies with the season and demand, the market days in Calcutta are times of great life and excitement, and the sales frequently afford opportunities for great speculation among the merchants. In 1846, 21,649 chests were thus disposed of, making a net profit to the government of over £2,000,000 sterling; and in 1847 the sales were increased by 10,000 chests, at which time over 31,000 chests of opium were sold at Calcutta, realizing to the company a net revenue of £3,000,000. The government thus receives annually an immense income from this source-an income which nearly all the politicians of India and Great Britain deem indispensable to the revenues of the British East India possessions. And yet this includes a part only, perhaps twothirds, of the opium raised in India, and by no means the whole of the revenue derived from this unrighteous source.

In the fiscal year of 1833-34, the time at which the commercial privileges of the company ceased, the opium sales at Calcutta amounted to 12,815,145 rupees; being an advance on the sales of the previous year of more than 1,000,000 of rupees, and amounting to nearly one-fourth of the revenue derived from the onerous and tyrannical system of land taxation which prevails in the Bengal presidency, and nearly to the income derived from the

great salt monopoly. In 1837-38, so rapid was the increase of this traffic, that the sales amounted to 22,429,041 rupees : exceeding the income from the salt monopoly by more than 5,000,000 rupees, and equaling two-thirds of the sum of the great land revenue itself. Omitting the land and salt revenues, this immense income from opium surpassed the sum of the revenue derived from all other sources in the Bengal presidency together; it amounted, in fact, to nearly one-fourth of the total gross revenues of the presidency of Bengal!

But the growth of this enormous trade has been steadily onward during the past twenty-five years. In 1848-49, the sales at Calcutta amounted to 34,930,275 rupees, or $15,893,275. The able editor of the "Friend in India," in contemplating the rapid growth of this enormous trade, makes use of the following language: "Sixty years ago, when Burke drew up his well-known report on the state of Bengal, the entire product of the opium did not exceed three millions of rupees; but by the increasing demand of this article among the Chinese, and the good husbandry of the Board of Customs, the importance of this branch of our resources has been increased to such an extent that it exceeds the entire revenue derived from the land, when Warren Hastings quitted the government with so much triumph."

But this is not the whole of the East Indian trade in opium. An additional revenue is derived through the Bombay presidency, in the form of transit duties charged by the company for the transportation through their territories, of the large quantities of opium produced in the province of Malwa. Since the settlement of the long-continued difficulties of Central India, the trade in Malwa opium has increased very rapidly, and its production is still a flourishing and growing branch of agriculture. In 1821 the total exports of that variety of the drug did not amount to 3,000 chests, while as early as 1839 they amounted to 21,000 chests, worth about £2,000,000. Previously to 1830 the Bombay government endeavored to obtain a monopoly of the sale of opium, such as exists at Calcutta ; but with little success, as up to that time two-thirds of the produce of Malwa were carried to the Portuguese settlement of Damaun, (a small settlement to the north of Bombay,) where

it was exported. Up to that time the greater part of the trade was carried on beyond the territories of Bombay, and of course beyond the control of the British government. But the Anglo-Indian government, already deeply implicated in the traffic, looked with envy on this large branch of the trade which was not in their hands, and in 1830 abandoned the attempted monopoly, and invited the passage of the Malwa opium through their territories, by laying on it a transit-duty, similar to that which was imposed in other states through which the opium passed. Soon after this the great territories of Scinde came into the possession of the English by the right of conquest, after which all the opium of Malwa was brought to Bombay, subject to a heavy tax for its transit through the company's territories. This tax or pass-duty during the past twentyfive years has ranged from 175 to 400 rupees per chest.

Under this arrangement, the trade, in 1832, yielded to the British government a revenue of £200,000; in the year 184849, the net revenue from this source amounted to over £600,000 sterling. The income from the transit of opium at Bombay, as early as 1835-36, amounted to nearly one-tenth of the whole revenue of the Bombay presidency. About 7,000 or 8,000 chests of the opium produced in Malwa, are annually consumed in that and the adjacent provinces. The surplus of the production which was transported to Bombay in 1846 amounted to 25,000 chests. At Bombay it is purchased by the merchants and exported to China. Opium and raw cotton are the principal articles of export from Bombay to China, and in 1836-37 there were exported of the former 20,882 chests, and of the latter 44,464,364 lbs., the whole value amounting to 32,675,047 rupees, or nearly three times the amount of exports to Great Britain, and constituting more than one-half the whole export trade of the Bombay presidency. These exports to China are more than twice the value of the products of China imported into Bombay, and for several years past the surplus has been returned in bullion, and to a large extent by bills on London, drawn by the merchants, and in bills on the Indian government, drawn by the agents of the company, thus constituting a perpetual drain on the moneyed resources of China.

But we cannot better exhibit the importance, extent and growth of the East Indian trade in opium, than by summing up the transactions of the company in this article during a period of twenty years, from 1830 to 1850. We have ascertained from official reports, that the sales of opium at Calcutta, during that period, amounted to 399,914 chests, containing about 51,988,820 pounds of opium, from which was derived to the government a gross revenue of $173,767,439, or a net income to the treasury of $115,224,024. The transactions in the Bombay presi dency, during the same period, involve 283,342 chests, or about 39,667,880 pounds of Malwa opium; realizing to the company a gross income of $24,593,334, or a net revenue of $22,359,587. The aggregate of the company's receipts, during these twenty years, amounts to the enormous sum of $198,360,773, or a net revenue from the trade in opium of $137,583,611. For this great income the company has sent forth, principally to China, 683,256 chests, or 91,656,700 pounds of opium!

The magnitude of this fearful trade is truly startling, and when we allow our minds to dwell upon the incomparable evils which those ninety-one millions of pounds of a pernicious drug have wrought in China, it is truly appalling. Think of it, reader, that this company has sent forth to China, in the brief period of twenty years, nearly one hundred millions of pounds of opium! Think of this enormous quantity of a poisonous drug, smuggled into the Chinese empire in twenty years, against the most stringent edicts and protestations of the government; against the earnest remonstrances of the most faithful officers of the empire; against the wishes of the wisest and best, and the vast majority of the people; and even against such opposition of the nation as eventually led to the declaration of war. Think of the consumption of that enormous quantity of the drug by the deluded victims of this most seductive practice. Think of the enormous sum of nearly two hundred millions of dollars, drained from the resources of a single country, to which must be added a large percentage for the profits realized by the individual merchants engaged in the traffic in China; and all for a worthless drug that is working poverty, desolation, and death throughout

the country. Look at it, men of England, whose greatest honor is the glory of your nation, and whose proudest boast is the justice, the equality, the beneficence of your government. Look at it. See the work of your countrymen; a trade allowed and protected by your government; an evil of unequaled magnitude, originated and perpetuated by the unfeeling avarice of Englishmen; and defended by the authority and arms of your government. Look at it, and see if it be not a wrong and injustice to a sister nation, sufficient to tarnish the boasted glory of your country. Look at it, Christians and philanthropists of the world, and see if it be not an evil of sufficient enormity to call for your attention and interference.

[For the National Magazine.]

TRIFLES! THERE ARE NONE.

DR

R. CUMMING says: "There are no trifles in the biography of man. It is drops that make up the sea; it is acorns that cover the earth with oaks, and the ocean with glorious navies. Sands make up the bar in the harbor's mouth, on which rich argosies are wrecked; and little things in youth accumulate into character in age, and destiny in eternity."

Some one has said: "Whether an insect shall deposit her egg in the bark of a young oak, or in some other place, would seem an incident as unworthy the providence of God as anything conceivable. This deposit, however, after a few months becomes a worm, which corrodes the tree. This tree, when many years have brought it to maturity—the defect not having been noticed and duly estimated-is used as part of the timber of a large vessel. In this vessel, let it be supposed, are sent dispatches, which, if duly received, would prevent a national war, affecting the fortunes, lives, and morals of thousands. While employed in service, the defective timber gives way; the leak is not discovered until it is too late to prevent the loss either of the vessel or crew. An event, comprehending not only this loss, but a national-perhaps a national revolution-may therefore depend upon a circumstance the most casual and trifling."

Major Andre was a brave officer; but fortunately for the present happy and prosperous condition of these United States, his bravery forsook him on the most im

portant occasion of his life. He has been made the bearer of treasonable dispatches. Instead of presenting his passport, he asks a question which immediately excites suspicion in the minds of the sentinels. His person is subjected to a rigid examination. The boots and hose are pulled off, and the traitorous documents are discovered. Now, had the British officer acted in character-promptly shown his passport— instead of attempting to play the Yankee, by "asking a question," the probability is that he would have been allowed to proceed without further interruption. It is equally probable that West Point would have been delivered up, and to this day the independence of these States might not have been obtained.

Sir Walter Scott tells the story of a parsimonious kinsman of his, who on being informed that a family vault in the churchyard was decaying, and likely to fall in, and that £10 would make the repairs, proffered only £5. It was not sufficient. Two years after he proffered the full sum. A report was now made that the breeches were now so much increased, that £20 would scarcely serve. He hesitated, hemmed and hawed for three years, then offered £20. The wind and rain had not awaited his decision, and less than £50 would not serve. A few years afterward he sent a check for £50, which was returned by post, with the intelligence that the aisle had fallen the preceding week.

About two hundred and twenty years ago might have been seen perambulating the county of Shropshire, England, a pack-peddler. While in the little village of Rawton, he one day called at the humble domicile of a Mr. Baxter. Mr. Baxter lightened the traveling merchant's pack of one book. The contents of this bookDr. Sibbs'" Bruised Reed"—were greedily devoured by Mr. Baxter's son Richard, a lad, then about fifteen years of age. This book was God's chosen instrumentality in " turning the youth from darkness to light"-from "sin to holiness." Richard Baxter became so prodigious a writer, as to receive from the notorious Judge Jeffries-on one occasion of being arraigned before him-the following very flattering compliment: "Richard, thou hast written as many books as would load a wagon, and every one of them as full of treason as an egg is full of meat." Truly, Richard's books were "full of treason" against

[For the National Magazine.]

NAUVOO AND DESERET.

REVIEWED ERRORS CORRECTED-ORIGIN OF THE BOOK OF MORMON-OTHER STANDARDS ENORMITIES — EXPULSION FROM NAUVOO-DEATH OF JOE SMITII. THE author of the first article in the

ZINE for the present year has presented a very incorrect view of the subject upon which he treats, calculated to lead to conclusions entirely erroneous, not only in regard to Mormons and Mormonism, but specially in regard to the people of Hancock and the adjoining counties, and the circumstances leading to, and accompanying the Mormon expulsion from the state. My father emigrated from Vermont, and was the first settler in an adjoining county, (Schuyler,) two years before the first "log cabin” was built in Hancock County, subsequently the seat of the Mormon difficulties.

In 1836 I was admitted into the Illinois Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church; preached more or less in Hancock County every year for the next eight years; included a good part of Hancock County in the Macomb District, which I traveled in 1838-9; was stationed the two following years in Quincy; the year after at Rushville, all in counties adjoining Hancock; knew Joe Smith and many of the leading Mormons personally; have been conversant with some of the leading men of the sect who had left them, and who were fully convinced of their iniquity before they left Missouri, and had many private and some public discussions of their doctrines; so that I may say without boasting, "having had perfect understanding of all these things from the very first, it seemed good to me also to write." And I may add further, from personal acquaintance with many of the citizens of Illinois who were active in effecting the expulsion of the Mormons, that they will not suffer by comparison with an equal number of citizens from any other part of the Union, in regard to intelligence, morals, or love of law and order. Some of a different class were engaged in it; but these formed the exceptions, and not the rule.

Heretofore they have not undertaken a vindication of their conduct, for the simple reason that they needed none with those who were acquainted with the facts; and

as to others who, under the influence of a false and morbid sympathy, are forever seeking after something to weep and sigh over, it was thought they had as well exhaust themselves on this subject as any other. And it is not that Illinois needs a vindicat vindication, but for the sake of truth that

With the first part of the article I have no particular controversy, (one item excepted,) as the writer is evidently shaking out his pinions for a flight, and may be allowed to substitute rhetoric and fancy for truth and fact. The item to which exception is taken relates to their numbers. No doubt the assertion that they now number "half a million" will make Elder Snow, Orson Hyde, Apostle Pratt, and even Governor Young himself stare amazingly. All nonsense, and nothing like truth. In 1850 they numbered in Utah eleven thousand three hundred and eighty, and the estimated population of the entire territory in 1853 is only twenty thousand, while the great majority in Carson's Valley (included within the territory) are not Mormons. Everybody knows that out of the territory, and within the United States, their numbers are but nominal. Strang, at the Manitou Islands, in Lake Michigan, and Rigdon, near Pittsburgh, are leaders of small companies, say from two to three hundred in all; and these are growing "small by degrees and beautifully less," continually. Out of the United States their converts are numbered by a few thousands, according to their own showing, which is much more likely to magnify than minify the facts in the case. "Half-a-million !! Even the veritable Madam Rumor herself, with her wellknown proclivity to fiction, falsehood, and exaggeration, would have choked at this. Thirty thousand is much nearer the truth.

The history of the Smith family is sufficiently correct to pass without special note, although the picture might have been darkened greatly.

The story of the Spaulding manuscript, &c., as the origin of the Mormon bible, is probably correct so far as it goes; but if correct to any extent, the original document has been greatly mutilated, as no

66

graduate" of an ordinary common school

-not to say "Dartmouth College"-would be guilty of so many gross vulgarisms and glaring violations of the plainest rules of grammar.