EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM HAVRE, DATED MAY 27.
"Dr. Bowring's visit to this Liverpool of France, has created a great sensation amongst us. The accounts which preceded him, from the different towns along the coast, which he had visited, made our good folk look on him as one of the lions of the day ; for on no occasion had the various journals—Carlist, Juste Milieu, and Republican—agreed on any one point, except in praise of this itinerant Commissioner. His perfect knowledge of the language, his free off.. handed manner, and a certain tact which he possesses of putting his opinions, rendered him extremely popular.
"He arrived on Wednesday, and left us to-day. The Authorities and principal merchants paid him great attention, and the Chamber of Commerce nominated a committee to confer with him on the object of his visit. There are of course various opinions on this Reciprocity scheme; but Bowring has succeeded, in a great degree, in bringing over the wavering, and creating some doubts in the minds of his most strenuous opponents. The elite of the merchants here are men of considerable reputation, and some have published well-written and comprehensive articles on commercial affairs; particularly a Monsieur Delauny, who is a man of extensive information.
"The general feeling is decidedly liberal ; and they are fully aware of the value which would be derived from the free intercourse between the two countries. This feeling has shown itself in a quarter from which one would
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arcely have looked for t. A newspaper is published in Lyons as the organ of its artisans and labouring population : in one of the last numbers of this journal, there is a leading article in favour of a free interchange of commodities, which for liberal and sound politico-economical views, might rival Say or Sismondi—written with a strength and comprehensiveness, which, coming from such a source, is extremely gratifying. There is no greater proof, that a conviction of general benefit will overcome the acerbity of political rancour, than in the manner in which the Reciprocity System, as explained by Bowring, has caused all parties to combine in its support. Fancy to yourself a state of society, so divided, and the line of demarcation so strongly drawn, that if you enter the salon of a Carlist, a Juste Milieu, or a Republican, you find not a soul, but such as profess the political opinions of their respective hosts: yet upon this subject, which is acknowledged to he one of national benefit and general utility, the organs of each party are trying to give force to the expression of their opinions in favour of it. There is an article in the last number of • the Journal du Havre, complaining, that there was no opportunity given to the body of merchants, except through their chosen representatives, the Chamber of Commerce, to express their decided approbation of the system of Free Trade. It is fair, however, to say, that there seems to be a distrust on the parts of the French merchants: they think the English are not sincere, and that this Commission of Commercial Inquiry has been the result of a political arrangement on the part of our Government, to acquire information, and, without regard to its professions, to turn it to its own purposes. The liberality and sincerity of our views are, however, gradually unfolding themselves ; and the organ which the Government has wisely chosen to assure them in the proper quarters, could not have been better chosen than in Bowring. Sir,' said a gentleman of considerable reputation, to me, the other day, as we returned to the salon, after a dinner which the American Consul gave to Dr. Bowring, and at which all the Authorities were present, 'such a man, who mixes with practical people, who is so well-informed in details, and so accessible, will do more to further the objects of his Government, and I must say the general good, than twenty Ambassadors.'"
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