The Sun. — London, England, 1819-12-30 00:00:00

I'4L VlSll:\'AitY. BY W. SCOT!". [letter in the Edinburg/177"Ni:lq Journal.] tad occasion, after leaving my uncle's, to make a short tour into the west of Scotland and return by tire town of V'hile my horse was taking his bait, 1 stepped into the park both to admiie the natural beauties of that fine seal, or palace, as it is vulgarly called, and to itoess the pleasing spectacle o f several scores tit di,tiessed weavers whom the noble proprietor had generously supplied with wotk at this press ing crisis., For this purpose some alterations were to.,kieg iii the grounds, which had been un• dr rralsrm for no other object, as I was told, than to find food and employment for those poor peo• plc." This is trtily noble," stid I to my isrlor tner, a decent-lookkoig man ; " this is Wqriby of high descent and lofty title, anti now for once in these evil times shall I hear a grateful body of peasantry. blessing . their generous benefactor, thong!' he be both prince and rer." " You will be lucky if you hear any such thing," said he. " Yon have heard, I suppose, bow the labnurers employed by public and pri vate charity in the parish of C-- have treated their employers. 'I hey displayed the three-co loured flag, and treated every attempt made to su duce them to strike so decided an ettohlem of me ditated rebtillion with contempt or defiance. Their language was as open as their conduct; they de clared their purpose teas to divide the parks and grounds of the eently into lots of tru acres each, to be appropriated to iiietmelvts." If this is known to the noble proprietor, thought 1, his is either the pertectioo of christian charity, which does good to those who revile and menace us, or it is akin to the generosity of the t el brated Uil Bias, when he dropt a rid into the bar of the beggar, who, While craving alms for rise lore of God, held out something through the hedge t. hid ) looked very like a musket. Having iso mind to go near the labohring party, lest I shooll find diem ill the same 11111110111' wish the radical sturdy beggars of the parish of C----, I sat me down by one of those map,niti cent oaks which had witness7d the revolutions of a thousand years. Thought after thought rolled on mind, like a troubled sea, until I fell asleep, and fa:led not, as usual, to dream. Methought that I started up from slumber,' and that the whole landscape was changed armor(' are. The steeple of the church—the towers of the pa lace, the chimneys of the neighbouring town—all had disappeared. Not a tree remained standing on the domain, which exhibited 0 sterile anti pal try succession of little. patches Of ground, some half cultivated, sonic lying quite barren. The rocks, the sky, the rivers of AVM) and Clyde, were the satire, but every vestige of beatify and of plenty, once the distinctive marks of the land scape, were vanished and gone. " Cart this be Scat land ?'' said 1, gazing around me. " Scotland ?" answered a rough voice behind me ; '' nn, it is tie land of Radicals." tutted and looked ttith wonder and fear on the half-naked ruffian, who approached the with a huge club in his hand. lie was unshaved and uncombed ; the matted locks of Isis hair and his beard ohscnring a physiognomy which, from the unbridled indulgence of every passion as it awake in its turn, was ra►her brutal than human. In &earns "e do not always obey ►he dictates of pru dence, " Can this be a man ?" said I. " A man ? a man !" answered the ogre, " ay, a man of men, such as all men were before priests and kings had the modelling of men." He was, indeed, in Lane's phrase, altogether unsophisticated, unless that lie was indebted to art fur the remnants of a tattered embroidered coat, and of a pair of black velvet shoes, which had formerly called some unfortnnate bean their owner. After gazing in astonishment for a mi nute or two, I took the freedom to ask the savage his name. " My name is Tom Ten-acres," said he, " not at your service, nor at any one's service, but toy own. If you will come with me to my den," said he, wi►l► a savage, and at the same time a sly look, "i ►vill satisfy your curiosity about all this change." None is so bold as a dreamer, and I accom panied my strange gOide. " I conclude, sir," said I, " that the radical change has been etiectcd in this country, which was agitated by the worthy individuals of C--, and that each individual has his own portion of ten acres of arable ground.-1 could not have thought, that, exclusive of its immense tracts of barren heaths and mountains, Scotland could have afforded any thing like tun productive acres to each of its inhabitants." " No more it world," - said the ogre, grinning, " hut all the aristocrats., and three-fifths of the radicals, have been killed in the great revolu tionary war,.so that, Walk God, (that is to say, thanks to no one) we have something like elbow room." " But sir," said 1, respectfully, " the land, to be so closely inhabited, seems to me to be very imperfectly cultivated. I presume it is owing to want of capital, for 1 remember there was an air of t °wort and careless plenty about the farm servants of yore, which I do not remark among these half-starved care-worn ten-acres gentle men." We do not care so much for the want of ca pital," said the native, " for it is our n►ttxim that a man had better starve as a master titan live in plenty as a domestic ; but we are now troubled by souther want-1 mean the deficiency of tools; the old implements of agriculture ate worn out, and (suppose we shall shortly have to scratch up the earth with our nails.'' " Then you have no smiths or carpenters ?" " how the devil should we," answered the sa vage ; " each man has his own ten acres to mind, and has no time to make tools for any one the." Yon might import them from abroad." " Aye, it we had ships, or sea-port towns, or money to pay, or commodities to exchange for them. But it is needless to tell you that if we base no ploughs, we have as few ships, having no commerce, and no commodities to export in lieu of ihuse which we may want, But what of that ? we ;we an equal, and eac!► man bas Ids ten acres cullivate.thcm how he can." " But it appears to cue, that this egoality, which yon think so desirable, cannot last long— one man cultivates his land more skillful y, and with more industry than another, and will have some produce to dispose of to an indolent or ignorant neighbour—indusoy will acquire " We were aware of that, my friend," said the savage, " 1 and most of my neighbours were of a dionthy constitution, fond of ease,.you tinder stand toe, and whisky : and there are half a dozen slaving cautions drudges that were likely to get exclusive right to the whole lands belonging to the tribe, till we tell on the plan of having a new di vision once H quarter, otherwise we should have got hick to the old story ot r ich and p oo r." " And yon pittfer," said 1 , " being all poor together ? Why what will yon do in case of a keareity, which seems not a very distant prospect. When none has'more than barely what is neces sary be can have of reliev ing others. There must he an end tat' Christian Charity." " And why not," sail he, " since there is an end ot Christianity itself ? To he sore a scarcity must be a famine, but then we shall not be insulted with public soup-kitchens, distribu tions of meal or eleemosynary legs of mutton, as "ere distributed by her they called the duchess. We sh tIl all starve " ID, " T 4 id " you cannot be equal even in your miseiy—the thing is impossible. One man will have heavier b , irthens to maintain, and more mouths to feet! than another; he may have su perannuated parents, or helphss infants." " Ile may fling them into the Clyde then," said tli,e savage, " and put himself on a level with big neiAbours—l kilow neimher law nor reason agAirist ii." " But even yet," said I, " there is a difference of greater strength, it you not allow that of superior wisdom. John cannot work, his land so well , as James i" " Then John may go to bed snpperless ; and what do I or James care ?" replied my friend. " No more, perhaps, than the ci deuant rich cared shout your welfare or misery. It is the very state of affairs, though on a different scale, of ‘vhich you formerly complained." " Itly friend," said he, " you grow trouble some.. I would just hint to you that our oil fool of a Minister used to preach such stuff as you are now talking, and we knocked his brains ant for his pains." This w,is verbum sapienti, and so I said no more, but followed my wild guile in silence through scenes of barbarous licence and squalid misery, to what he very appropriately called his den. It was a little vault which bad once been the subterranean storey of one of the towers of the old mansion, but was now the only vestige of it which remained. Two or (hi ee remnants of what had once been furniture served to accommodve the wretched inmate, and a part of the famous - Daniel Of RUBRNS Serred !O stop the aperture that admitted the light. My ft iend took a draught of whi , ky, and recommended the same to me, ob serving, " it served him and ail his tribe instead of fire, for since the wood had all been cut down and burned, fuel was hard to come by." " Your distiller, at least, must get rich, said I ?" " So he would, for he has a fine trade in bar tering whisky for barley. But once a week we meet and driiik out his stock gratis, to bring hint to a level with his neighbours." " But you said fuel was scarce, and yet this is in Lanarkshire, famous for its coal mines ?" " And who the devil is to work them !" said my host ? " no ten-acre man will go tinder ground, I promise • you, and neglect his own mailing. Besides, if there were a million times a million hundred-weight of coal lying on the coal-hill, how should we be the better, who have neither carts nor horses to send for them, nor roads on which to draw them i" " Then you have no funds from which to de fray the expenses of the public," said I. " The public !" said he, " we know no such word, we are every one for ourselves, and GOD (that is to say nobody) for us all." " What ! no national legislation—what be comes of your universal rights of representation 1 0 " " Why, Bottom and a few false friends made a clamour about that matter in the first year of the republic, but we have long rid ourselves of them. It 'was all blarney ; what signifies repre sen, ation to us. If we send any of our compa nions to form a Legislature, we must pay their ex penseß ; and a people that can hardly get bread to their own teeth, care very little for other folks' tonguet." "'Then you have no laws whatsoever ?" " No, toy friend, none ; they are the most ready engines by which the rich subjected the poor !" " And of course," said 1, " you have no exe cution of justice ?" " Pardon toe there," said Tom Ten-acres, " 1 brought you hither to make you practically ac quainted with that matter.". With that he lion riAed kis club over toy head, and added, " you are well cloathed, and I am naked, or nearly so— down this instant with yo'ur surtour, waistcoat, shirt, hoots, and stockings, and thank toy mercy if 1 leave you your pantaloons !—I want ; you have—l am strong, and can take ; you are, weak; and cannot detelid. This is the essence of all. radical justice—so down with your duds, or knock your brains out." - I started back in terror—opened my eyes—and was delighted to see that the stout sapling which in very truth was brandished over me, still grew on the huge oak under which 1 had fallen asleep. SOMNAMBULUS. Fins.---An alarming fire broke out on Monday morning at Violet Farm, occupied by Mr. Hea ther, which destroyed four ricks of barley. and the spacious fern►-house. It Was occa sioned by the wadding of a gun lodgin . g in one of the ticks adjoining the house in shoo►ing at rats. here was plenty of assistance at hand, and a good supply of water, but the house being chiefly built with wood, assistance was of no avail , , as the whole was in less than an hour a heap of ruins. The horses were with difficulty saved. BOARD OF EXCISE, DEC. 29. IMPORTANT DECISION To WINE•ME;LCHA\TS AND OTHEIO , . The firm of Messrs. "Thompson and Coates, wine and spit it-merchants, at Holborn-hill, were charged under the 54th of Geo. 111. chap. 8, commonly called the Cape Act, with having mixed a quinthy of Port Wine with a quantity of Cape Vine, against the statute. There is a penalty of 3001. attached to the offence, if it is with a frau dulent intention, but this being admitted not to he the case, the penalty was not proceeded for. This case excited an extraordinary degree of interest amongst the %Vine-trade in general, as the question nt issue was as to the.legality of a com mon practice of mixing wines to improve their fl.ivour. The Court was et owded by persons in the trade, who were anxious to hear the deci sio►n. Mr. Fisher, a surveyor in the Excise, proved, that in taking the stock of Messrs. Thompson anti Coates, on the 19th of October, he found an ex cess of eight gallons in a pipe of Cape wine of 98 gallons, vi hie') was not acconated for by the per mits. On asking Mr. Coates to account for the increase, he staled it to have been caused by the addition of eight gallons of Port wine, in older to improve the Cape wine. The whole of the pipe, 100 gallons, was consequently seized. he stocking officer corroborated this statement. Mr. COATES appeared in behalf of the firm, and said he stood there to answer the charge made against the firm--*he first in their lives. It was a ques'ion to which their character, witch had hitherto stood pre-eininent, was cneern ed ; and HS it was but natoral to slip pose that their prosperity wool(' piocnre them many enemies, the account of the. seizure had now the foil progress of a lit• throughout the trade, and from the mete seizure nf a pipe of wine, it had iocteased to the' discovety of a con traband coonexiao, and an ilumeasa s ,jaar e , to . which 4 penAlty of 20,0001, was attached, which had afrarded consolation .o those envious of their prosperity. should first contend, that the offi cer acted illegally in seizing more than the excess of eight gallons ; secondly, that to lola port wine widi Cape red wine was not contrary either to the letter or the intention of the it of Parlia ment ; and thirdly, that they had done nothing inconsistent witle Ibe revenue, which was neither in tact nor intention injured. On the contrary, he should show that the revenue teas in reality be nefitted. There were only two laws in force against the snixiure at wines, patnely, the 12th of Charles ii, c. 25, and the 5-1:11 Geo. 111. as to the seizure of the whole of ihe pipe. 1-le referred to the 27th clause of the last-mentioned Act, to prove that the Officer had no iiatit to seize more titan eight gallons, the words of the Act being, " that the (111(110h) , seized should be equal to the vantity found in excess and he contended, that there were not the slightest grounds for sup posing that the Act authorized the svh /le to be seized. lie had, when asked by the (),Peer to account for the excess, openly 41:(1 candidly given him the truth, which if he haul had any. imp oper motives he would have withheld, and which it would have been impossible to have discovered, had be not have told it. Lie complained that the admis sion which had been made inhonoar anti good spirit to the officer, should be converted to their disod- , vantage. To prove that the act,for which they %vete charged was no! contrary to the letter and spirit of the Act of Parliament, he contended, that at the time the Act was made .for the comintra lion of t h e duties on Cape wine, from 7s. 6(1. per . gallon to 2s. 6d., the Legisl,ture had in contetn plation the frauds which taught he committed, by mixing the Cape wine, which paid the duty of 2s. 6d. per gallon, with those which reaiiied ihe standard duty of 7s 6.1., and thereby detratiOing the rev.enue. The Legislature had never in contemplation that any. one would mix that which paid the greater duty with that which paid the less, as in the present instance, or it would have been - mentioned. The Act m e rely said, that " if any person should mix or :illoic Cape wine with Port or other foreign wines." Now had the converse been intended, it would have been stated, as it was in the Act of Charles IL, for those who made Acts of Parlia ment were never sparing of words. The illega lity was in mixing Cape wine with Port, or any . other, which was not the case iu the present in stance, for the Port wine was mixed with the Cape. 'Phis was not a mere play upon terms, but a solid objection; as, for instance, in a domestic recipe it was said, " Mix a tea-spoonful of sill plunk ac id , wi t h a pint of water," but it would be absurd to say "Mix a pint of water with a tea-spoonful of acid;" or to say " Mix a tea spoonful of milk with a cup of tea," was proper, but to say, " Alix or mingle a cup of tea with a spoonfu! of milk," was manifestly contrary to common sense. As to the practice not being inju rious to the revenue, but on the contrary, he would not waste the time of the Court, as it was self-evident. He might have been mktaken in the construction of the acts. If he had erred, it was not from intention. If the Court should pro nounce-the practice illy gal, lie for one was ready to abandon it. It seas :he daily practice of the most respectable wine-merchants in the trade lo mix Port wine with Cape, in order to improve the barren flavour of the Cape, and to make it keep longer. The question as to the legality of the practice was therefore of the highest import-, ance to the trade, with whom, 'if he eerie guilty, he shared the guilt in common. The Court asked Mr. Fisher, the surveyor, whether he believed it to be a common practice ; to which be replied in the affirmative, and said, that one had been convicted, and another trial was pending for the same offence.. Mr. COATES continued, and said he felt, as every .other practical man felt, the utter impossibility of adhering to the letter of the Excise Laws, which the Legislature seemed to have contemplated, iu giving such extensive powers of mitigation to the Court. Mr. MAYO said, the Legislatnre had nnly con templated a departure from the Excise Laws, by enacting excessive penalties. The Court said, Mr. Coates ought not to have made such a declaration there ; he might, it he pleased, with others, have reserved it for his close. 'Die Court could only be governed by thd le'irr of the Excise Laws. Mr. Coates asked the Surveyor, whether there was not a corresponding decrease in a pipe of Port wire at the time of the increase in the Cape which was seized. The fact was admitted. Air. ildAvcr, the Solicitor to the Excise, con. tended, that the Court could only be governed by the letter of the Act, which was, be said, stpit;st the defendant. Lie answered at sonut length the arguments of the defendant to prove that the practice was not injurious to the revenue. It might appear so at fitst sight, but would be [mind to be injurious in the long run : if wine merchants %vete permitted to mix foreign wines with the Cape wine, which paid less duty, they might improve it so much as to increase its con+ sumption as a substitute for Port, and thereby injure the revenue. Tl:e Court, in giving judgment, said, there was imporat!on whatever upon the character of the .firm,: of which the Office's of the Excise had al , . VelVi made an lionottrabie report ; and those who frmii presumed falsely to impeach ifs reSnectAility deserved - punishment. The itiforma:itin did not charge ►hem %vith any thing ciiminal or corrupt, and the question merely tinned on a point of On ti i 4 head the Court were clearly of opinion, that , here had been a mixio„, , within tl►e meaning of the Act, and adjudged the whole of the wine so mixed to be forfeited. A few days ago, a man ‘ralking along the hanki of the Tay, nisciavered in the river, near the mouth of the Aoiotul, a lame cask, which appoAred to contain somett of V3llle. Pared with his good fortune, anti not doubting that the cask was filled t, ith acot,irte'rnowitairt dew, he proceeded to ex amine i s quality, when, to bis utter astonishment, he found the contents to consist of R moving mass of living frov, nearly as closely packed together. as a ba , rd or ben ino. I low these amphibious creattirt:s ( - ante to he enclosed in such numbers, we leave to naturalists to determine. It is no un cumin •11 thing, we are aware, to discover toads in the hearts of trees, and even in the internal parts of the hardest rocks, but it mast be admit_ tell to be a very rare occurrence to find a vs hole co l ony o r kindred rely iles pent up in that man ner.—( Perth Courier,) 0,11 itniay week a person applied, at the Q teens Head, in Durham, for a post chaise and tour, to carry hitt) to N thy Castle, whither he staid he 'Va..: proceeding with iinvort ant dispatches for the Bill of Da; liogton. As soon as the chaise was reaey he set out, accompanied by a female, decently at ti,el but not of vet y gewec!appearonce. 0;1 reach ing Nahy, the stranger tv.l4 iHortned that the Lord Lieutenant was at Newton LlAuse, whither he fol. lowed. At Staindt op he represented himself - as the Doke of Lancaster, and his amiable cons or t, ti, e Duchess, regaled herself with a glass of rent and water in the kitchen of the Inn. His Grace made an unsuccessful application to one of 11:e Earl of D.'s agents for a loan to 41( fray his expellees Ott the road. He also requested permission to re main at the Castle till the return of is noble owner, which was of course refused. On his arrival at Newton House, he fo .nd th,t his assumed title LINA to obtain him an audience.— In this dilernsul post : boys beizart to despair of receiriog p ,yinent or the'r services ; and deemed-it prudent to bring the Duke and Duchess bat k to Durham, where they arrived in the contse of Sa turday, His Grace having no mon,..y, let his aci d rings,- and the Duchess her midi ac. l l tippet, as security to Mr. Esket, t•-ix !he expences ot, a joorncy which could only have been iii;der. taken thiough folly or insanity.—( Tyree Mercury, Dec. 28 ) Un Christmas•day, between the boors of two and three in the afternoon, , he tiwelling-hon;e t f Chaioey, in . the paikb of 8.-n en d en , w as broken open, (no person bring therein, it being (hiring Ditine service), and robbed of not, s, and gold in sovereigns and is. pieces,. to the amount of upwards of 201., several shirts walked with rite initials of his name, ti red waistcoat, a velveteen jacket quite . new, several silk handkerchiefs, and a variety of wearing apparel. Tile ioh•ter alit" carried i•ff a double barrtl pistol, with lite name ofMilsted engraved on it, and a sin de barrel ditto, with a steel rainnoil fixed in a swivel, and attach ed to the stock. The rol)her pot ked up most oldie articles in a fiag-ba,kel, will the remainder' were concealed about him He was seen by a little boy, getting over the garden hedge of the said*Win. Chainey. He appeared a youngish man, rather tall, wore a short round frock, and long trowsers, and had a large stick, on which lie carried the flag-basket, and he appeared to have a quantity of things stuffed into his bosom. Between 3 and 4 o'clock of the same day, he was sect) passing tilt ()ugh Cranhrook, anti is supposed to have taken th e direction of Gondlnirst nr Marden, but most likely teas making his way for Maidstone and Chatham. The little boy describes him as bei;i4: like a millwright in appearance. 110 P INTELIAGENCE. SOUTIMABK, DEC. 27.—Our Hun Market con 'limes very doll, The Doty. it aiyeArs, orris laid on the Trl bi e at the liotte of Conlinins on Friday last, and seems to be 242,076 i. 25.3 d. COAL AIARKET, I)Ec. 29. Ships at Marl:ct. Ships sold. Prices. 1 , 141 Neweastlo 2S Tii Od. to 43,. Gd. i 7 tilloderlan''. II IHRTH. o,) the -2;111 inst., at Clapham Connnun, Mrs. John Shewell, of a daughter. I\I.IItHIED. On the 23d inst., at liellwoud, Andrew Forbes Ramsay, Esq., the Hon. East India ('ornpany's service, I , ',,t,,hlisholent, to Isabella, fOurth daughter of tho hoe Join Young, Esq., of Bellwood. DIED. On Nionday, the 51 , 7111 instant. At Wattle Lodge, Essex, in the ';st h tai- of his avre, universally lamented, Rear-Admiral John Paillaul F.rtesene. Early on fuesday inorniuz, Alexander Sutherland, Esq., of Great Qiicen-street, Westminster, aged 72. On the 2;d nig. in his list year, Mr. Ca,sar Peacock, Edi for of The York Courant. /NDON: Printed hy J. B. CAnsTAIRs, of No. 29, Great Ormond-street, (Ineen-square; and onhlished hv W. A. S(;ItIPPS, of N 4). 7, South Molton-sheet, at THE Surf ()dice, 11c2, Strand where Advettistortenta, Ofrlet Letuits, &e, (post-paid) must be rtddresst 1. fau pri Sir eV - Sta HE tun soy all, r IV I Lol an( Pol wf Loi mei wot fats by 1 ger: