The Sun. — London, England, 1841-08-12 00:00:00

MORNING SI'N. SIR ROBERT PEEL-AND THE CORN-LAWS. A Correspondent of the Morning Chronicle, under the !ignature of Diogenes, gives the following excellent de ;liption of visits made to the City incog . b y Sir Robert r el ; _ f The factory, where you may inspect this " Jim Crow" rttar east, and on your way thither you mi g ht as well t quire in the City about the present s tato of the Com rade, and the working of the sliding scale, before you fat on the Blackwall Railroad. Suppose y ou called, in t he plain garb of a man of business, on som e of the Feat merchants, the Barings, the Larpe nts, the Huh bards, and proposed to them to jo in y ou in an importa tion of wheat from abroad. You might tell them that y ou had plenty of money, knew the country well, were aware of the state of the crops, and sure that wheat was wanted, and that it was, therefore, the proper time to bring ; but I will wager my existence that you would meet a refusal in such words as these :-Thank you for your 'nnfidence, but must decline the business-don't enter ° a such neck-breaking affairs-the Corn-trade is na turally full of hazard, but with the present system it is h azardous five times over, sure to burn o ur fin g ers- the moment there is the least chance of want, up jump prices a broad, higher than here, in anticipation of a low duty ; a nd-when they hale got the duty down in September, t hey will knock the prices down, and punish those who are too late with their cargoes-:hey alway s have some „OW stuff in store for that. We shall be c au g ht in a d ouble trap-high prices abroad, and a h i g h dut y here : we are not clever enough for such business ; if there gas a fixed duty, there would be a chance, but now there is one. Thank ye for your confidence, but must de eline it. Leaving these cautious, solid, and wealthy merchants, I .would have you go to the Bank, and get the re five one t housand pound notes, and then proceed to M ark-lane, luzinating the while a little on the low dut ies in Sep tember, a nd the strange circumstance that t he y nil% import wheat, though they agree with you that it is wanted. When you get to the Corn-Exchange, t alk boldly up to the stand of some Corn fact ors, sa y essrs. Kaye and Emm, mighty shrewd people they-up everything. Pull out your five hank notes , y ou are !are then to pass for a respectable man, and they won't a sk k your name. As Mr. Raumer says that you look very Filch like an honest German, you might pass y ourself off 2r One, and whisper in their ears, " I vent to make a little vestment." " You can't come at a better time," says " it's all up with the crops and no mistake." " Vell, 'at do you recommend?" " Why, beans to be sure, man. g.e have just a parcel on board the Sliding Scale, Captain from Egypt, off Atkin's wharf, at 225." " Vell, but . 1 beans ?" " Why, they must have them to mix , and we are working the duty." " Vell, but my mind vas made up , veat----tat haf you cot?" " There's a cargo of Odessa, at 53 5 ,, including freight, a capital sample. not yet passed Gibraltar,' and may just he in for the shilling dut y; and If you give us two shillings more, the seller warrants a six-and-eightpenny duty by the 23d Se p tember!" "Put the dooty be down Sooner-there's shust now such 4 ,,great vent of veat ?" " Pooh, nonsense ;" says Ka y e, t▪ he averages can't` be worked found sooner ; besides, It don't suit them to have the shilling duty before the shipments from the Mediterranean are on the coast ?" • Put, yon't"cle noo Ministers alter dem dooties, ven dey 4 ee flat no veat is entered for consumption ?" " Stuff !" :!•3's Kaye, " they are a pack of asses -and y ou know :V _r Robert Peel has distinctly declare d that he p refers t he present sliding scale." Hearing yo ur name pro it°llneed, you colour up, and, app rehendin g discovery, you, in an agony of your soul, cunning l y p o p out, " Vat z ass Sir Roppert Beel must pee,"-decline the bar- VII: button up your notes, and, with a hasty bow, de amongst the crowd, bet not fast enough to save Your auriculars from the pleasing titillation of " to be sure he is !" , If these two experiments should not satisfy yo u, that, under the sliding scale, wheat does not always come in * hen A people want it, you might direct your steps to some meep calculator about the Royal Exchange-some man after your own heart, who does not mind principles, Is▪ . delights in figures and statements-some great com mercial or political arithmetician, who would g overn e world by statistics and the rule of three ; who u treats men as he would halfpence, and, provided he can handle his nine numerals with their naughty sister, and can show the averages to have been good av era g es f or ten or a hundred years, does not care one straw whe ther death has reduced the number of consumers to the extent of the supplies, or commerce has accommodated t he „, „supplies to the wants of the consumers. T hese men : ls lgures in the City are a strange set, and have the Vity to prove almost everything with their statements. ell they want to prove that an article must fall, they you a long account of storms and overwhelmin g t om from the coast and the west , from Russia and .1 3 Buenos Ayres ; but when they are for the rise, their figures are all like a capital 0 zero is the only f)'lptier they can write, blight in the fiel ds, rot amon g st te sh ee p, epidemics killing the calves, unlimited demand, ~a , nd a total cessation of production are a t their dis p osal ; ; 4 eir paper is patient, their imagination only fertile in barrenness, and their ingenuity wandering amongst deso lation. You must, therefore, be a little on your guard, 10 1,d take nothing for granted but what can be proved by Parliamentary returns ; but go over with them the his .tery of the corn trade since the end of 1837. In 1838 wheat advanced in price from the very first d a y ; the Winter was dreadfully sovere ; the spring li nfavourable ; the summer late, cold, and wet ; and prices had reached 70s. to 80s. in the beginning of Au gust. There was dearly it' million of quarters of - wheat 1 the bonded warehouses, but none was entered for co nsumption, even on the 7th of September, because the f or ag p er e was one halfenn under 735.-sa 725. 1 lid. was this all, for by the y 26th of October of this -the first of a succession of years of famine-the duty was a gain as high as 225. Bd. Of this horrible, this infamous .state of things, you, the great statesman of the age, as 'pt to guide our youthful and humane Sovereign, and control her subjects with your paternal sway, said "l,ost complacently, on the 15 th March , 1839, " But when n"e pressure came, was there any serious difficulty in pro !,9rtno• a supply ?" Ye Gods ! w as there any thing but has difficulties of the sliding scale ? There 4 43 been a• pressure for s ix months-an extreme dearth for three, and a famine for six weeks. It was as noto '„,,ens- as the sun in heaven ! And y ou talk in the House Lt Commons only of the ave ra g e of nine years ! What are .`' weeks of famine in the average of nine years, ending . 1 , 4 September, 1838, as you coolly say, nothing-abso lutely nothing ! To him, whose every single morsel which h e pokes with his golden f ork between his teeth ' e c , sts more than a hardworking man's pay for a day,,six 'weeks of famine are of course noth in g ; they. go in the vtrage, and that, for die nine years ending in Septem nr, 1838, was not more than 545. and odd pence per Inarter of wheat, as you observed ; but to the humble, ~,.4 , 4 (1 ov erw orked hind in Dorsetshire , with 6s. 6d. a "eek, and a sleeping berth in the hay -loft ; to the 'Poor sempstress whose thousand stitches can earn her . at the utmost one penny in the hoer (as I live, this is the truth) ; to the widow laundress, who, up at t hree every morning, labours through weeks, months,, ' s ad tl years, and takes in washin g at a ' penny e piece, to preserve to herself and her poor orphans a time of their sire was just sufficient to keep them from the parish and the workhouse; to market, fish, and chair 'Women, to weavers and factory girls, to all the thousands, ,t)', millions, who keep their accounts in p ence and far ngs, to whom a shilling's expenditure would be ruin, to whom a pound is an inconceivable and unattain able possession ; to these one w eek's dear and bad read acts as a disastrous catastrophe, and six weeks ,„.". famine are an eternity of pain, anguish , tor ":re, disease, and ofteu deat h. The six weeks' arvation is the iron that ent ers into their soul, t 'and th e balm of your nine years' average of fifty-four Shillings will by no means heal the wound, restore health and strength once lost, replace the rags pledged or sold, and cure the ills of minds and bodies smitten by the in ainblis system which I have feebly described in my seventh letter, saying " That it gambled with the People's wretchedness-played hazard with your half 'Penny averages-and had found in the life and death of artillions a legitimate and fertile mine for diabolical UPeculation and infamous profit !" Sir, your new acquaintance, the man of figures, in l'Et.ntures with a visitor of a congen i a l mind, will tell y ou h high glee that on the Ist of January. 1830, the ave;•age p r ice was 78s. 2d., therefore far bey ond a famine Price. lt remained so till the 22d of March, when only t 7 9,900 quarters of wheat, or ten days' consumption, had been entered. Now, after this did we, or did we not, want t h e,' supplies of nthforeig rain ? The averages fell, and by te 2d of August, when e harvest began, the price had 'eeeded to 2s. under famine rates, nameli,.to . 68s. 2d., and t he duty, wa s only 16s. Bd., w ith an a damn of 800,000 _quarters entered at duties averaging above 10s. Bd. But L '°Y the 20th of September the duty was again down to Giese Bd. and a nd the prices up to 71s. 10d. ; therefore, in gle se ' seven weeks there must have been an enormous want of wheat, but the entries were only 26,000 guar te."&. so that, whilst famine during the harvest dro_ve up Prices, next to no wheat wa s supplied by the aid of your blidimg rule. But between the '2oth of September and 23d o ,' November prices fell to 60s. ; the wants, there- " o re, I suppose, were not so pressing ; the duty again r ose to 20s. Bd., but the supplies were creaseind b y 60 0,000 otarters, at an average duty . of 10s. sis the history of the year 1839, when, in consequence of the rnodera,*e crops of 1837, and the decidedly bad ones of 183 8, the pe w ople of this country endured unhear d-of suf ferings .„d in ense pressures ;_ the prices const antl y ranged at w h a t wo , 1 2oth agr,e (and it is th e nly thing 11 1 which we agree) to call famine prices. The duties Were maintained at an average rate of al ova 10s. The corn trade ruined every one engaged in it-the supplies were chiefly poured into Ow markets when the duties were high, and were small \ vilen they were low-the Bank was obliged to borrow money in Paris to avoid stopping-and yca ridiculed the solemn warnings and predictions of Mr. Mark Philips, Ll ecau s e not sustained Y offieal documents ! Our man of figures will give you all these details with a glow of delight ; for what does lie care for distress or prosperity ? To him men are as figures, an d figures idols to be worshipped ; his accounts are correct, his statements accurate, his averages good averages, and he is charme d to find that the returns !from ''hospitals, poor-houses, and bills of mortality, con 'firm, by a proportionate increase of wretchedness, the gum of his calculations to a minute fraction. In 1840 we begin with an average price of 665. 10d., receding by the 14th February to 645. 11d., but being on the 24th April up to 695. 6d. ; good wheat constantly above 705., or what you call famine prices, but only - 17 ,800 quarters of foreign wheat entered for consump tion. Our want now became probably urgent, for an additional 320,000 quarters , or one week's consumption, were entered up to the 31st July at a duty of 16s. Bd. The.pressure now grew insufferable, and by the 4 th of ,_ Ptember, as usual, the prices were up to 715., the duty down to 2s. Bd., but all the while only 42,000 quarters Were supplied to satisfy these wants. From this day, llowever. the wants apparently diminished, prices fell, and duti es rose ; on the 11th of September, that is to say, with:m one short week, we had the enormous quan tity o f 96 3,000 quarters entered at a duty of 6s. Bd. ; - on the 2d of October it had grown to 1,280,000 - quar ters, with the duty at 16s. Bd. ; on the 20th of October. with only 20,000 qUarters more, the duty was 225. Bd. ; and by the end of the year, good wheat being still at 705., or a famine price, the duty was (I blush to write it) twenty-six and eightpence. Read that, you states man, you lover of your country, you leading star of the human race, you, who in your speech of the 15th of March, 1839, sneer at the " cold-blooded economist re garding money as the only element of natural happi ness ;" you advocate for slipping and sliding rules, which wheel and jump about more than ever Jim Crow did, but which, instead of convulsing us with innocent sport, threaten to convulse the political stability of the empire, to exterminate every notion of common sense and huma nity, and have spread more destruction, misery, and mischief than a hundred battles ! Surely a fixed duty of 1 or 5 or 8 or 10 shillings would not have teazed and worried farmers, merchants, dealers, millers, bakers, and consumers, as this silly, childish, cruel gairie of slipping and sliding evidently did, and inevitably must do'? POLITICAL , LOAN TRACT SOCIETIES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR, —By inserting the suggestions of your Cor respondent " Ballot" on the above subject, you have conferred a favour, not only on the writer of that letter, but also on the public. It is a sub ject which, at present, has been scarcely thought of; but, nevertheless, it is one of paramount im portance. I perfectly concur in the sentiments of your Correspondent, and have long thought that if the political regeneration of the people is to be effected, it must be by such means, in com bination with the other departments of the press now in operation. Hitherto the people have been appealed to more as mere corporeal or animal beings than as rational and intelligent agents. Their passions have been roused without their judgments being enlightened. So long as such a system continues they will remain the victims of caprice or cor ruption, and alternately be driven from one extreme of the political to the other ' ac cording to the passing circum stances of the moment. Formerly this pernicious system might be inevitable—when the whole of the people were shrouded in the darkness of ig norance there was no way open to their affections, except through their inferior propen sities. Now a new state of society has arisen, demanding a totally different mode of tactics for developing and wielding its energies. The schoolmaster has walked abroad, and in his benevolent tract has dispensed to the millions the acquisition of the art of read ing, and the elements of many other branches of knowledge, from which have sprung a disposition and a capacity for thinking. This new element in the constitution of society has been too much lost sight of; if not entirely ne glected, by politicians. It is true we have a daily and weekly press, unprecedented for its talent and extent, and that the spirited and un flinching support which The Sun has given to liberal principles, has done much to dissipate the ignorance of the people. Still there are great numbers of men who never see these excellent mediums of political intelligence, and who are even ignorant that such a paper as The Sun exists. Lectures, too, have been instituted, and have aided, in a good degree, the newspapers in supplying the public taste for information. But it will be obvious, on a moment's reflection, that these are extremely inadequate to meet the exigencies of the case we are deploring. Amongst other causes which render them only partially applicable, may be mentioned, disin clination on the part of many to attend, want of time with others, and not unfrequently the want of means. The only feasible plan, at the pre sent juncture, calculated to meet the evil , is to furnish them at their homes, without cost, with the materials for thinking. The religious world, being wise in their day and generation, have long taken advantage of this new feature in society, and are spending an nually considerable sums of money in the dis tribution of their tracts. Why has not this been done, ere now, in the political world? Every true Christian and philanthropist must be desirous to inform the mind and im prove the condition of the people for this as well as for a future state. Indeed, it is a short-sighted policy, and one subversive of their own aims not to do so. It is an indisputable fact that ignorance, famine, and misery, form but a barren soil for the growth of exalted virtue or pure religion. Nor do I see any formidable obstacle to its adoption. Only let a tithe of the money now squandered at elections, ostensibly to promote 'the people's good, but which operates solely in debasing their mental and moral character, be appropriated to this object, and the desired ame lioration will be attained. Without a moment's delay, " Political Loan Tract Societies" s hould be formed throughout the land. These Societies should immediately engage competent persons to.write a series of plain and common-sense Addresses, appealing to the popular understand ing and feeling, upon all political questions which affect the well-being of the community. Let persons be appointed, gratuitous if possible, in every town, village, and hamlet in the king dom, to distribute them to every house. It may be predicted, almost with absolute certainty, that were a plan of this kind established, and ener getically prosecuted, that by its influence the salvation of the country would be achieved. Should you, Sir, deem these hints worthy a corner in your valuable and independent paper, their insertion will oblige your obedient servant and constant reader, R. J. Leicester, August 10. SYNOD OF ARGYLL. (From the Edinburgh Advertiser.) The Synod of Argyll met at Campbelton on Wednes day the 4th inst. The Rev. Duncan M'Nab, of Campbelton, and Dr M‘Naughton, of Arran, were respectively proposed to fill the Moderator's Chair, when the latter was unanimously elected. The Rev. Mr. M'Leod was elected Clerk. • After some routine business, the Committee on Over tures reported that two had been submitted. The one signed by the Rev. Mr. M'Crea, and others, was in sub stance as follows:—" Whereas great evils have arisen to the Church from her disobedience to the Civil Powers of the country which are ordained of God; and whereas she still retains the Veto Act, out of which all these evils have sprung; it is hereby overtured to the General As sembly that the Church abandon her present position, and that she suspend the said Act and return to that obedience to law . and orderly conduct in the mainte nance of which, in times past, she has enjoyed so many blessings." The second overture was signed by Dr. M'Kay and others , and was to this effect :—" Whereas the Church has been brought into great trouble and pe rils by decisions of some of the Civil Tribunals of the country, injurious to the spiritual rights and independ ence of the Church and people of Scotland ; and whereas a Bill has been proposed to be introduced into the beenLegi s lature by his Grace the Duke of Argyll, which has approved of by a great majority of the General Assem bly as calculated to secure t hese rightsis overtured to the Synod of Argyll that the Synod record their high satisfaction of the said Bill, and that they appoint a Committee to draw up resolutions to be laid before his Grace expressive of their sentiments of satisfaction with the Bill, and gratitude to that Nobleman, to whose house the interests of the Church of Scotland have been in former times so dear." After considerable discussion, the Synod decided tliat the overtures be taken up separately, and that Mr. M'Crae's be taken up first. It was then moved and seconded that the Synod ap approve of the overture, and transmit• the same to the General Assembly. Dr, Milimt moved that the overture be dismissed, which was seconded. A long discussion followed, after which, on the vote being taken, 20 voted transmit and 20 against, when the Moderator gave his casting vote in favour of transmit. The Synod afterwards proceeded to the consideration of the second overture, when, after a long discussion, 21 voted approve of the said overture, and 20 dismiss. The other business being disposed of, the Synod closed its sederunt, and fixed to meet at Inverary in August next year. PRESBYTERY OF PEEBLES. The Presbytery of Peebles, at their meeting on the 9th of June, agreed, on the motion of Dr. Burns of Tweedsmuir, to take up the consideration of the Duke of Argyll's Bill at their meeting in August. The Rev. Doctor at the same time ga ve notice of his intention to move, at that meeting, an approval of the Bill. When the Presbytery met on the 4th inst. to consider the mat ter, Dr. Burns craved leave to postpone his motion on the subject of the Duke of Argyll's Bill on account of its having been withdrawn in the meantime; Mr. Elliot of Peebles moved that the Presbytery proceed to its con sideration, which was seconded by Mr. Robertson of Eddlestone, and the roll having been called and votes I mar ked, it was carried to proceed by a majority of six to four. Mr. ROBERTSON then moved, " That whereas the Bill lately introduced into Parliament by his Grace the Duke of Argyll does not appear to be calculated to relieve the Church from her present difficulties ; and whereas the said Bill, if passed into a law, would be a fertil shes, e southerce of dissension, animosity, and strife in pari Presbytery disapprove of the Bill, and instruct their Moderator to intimate this deliverance to the Noble Duke ;" which was seconded by Mr. Elliot, and agreed to without a vote. Whereupon Dr. Burns gave notice that, on their first meeting after the sitting of Parlia- Houses of Parliament that, i n a ny measure to be passcd ment, he would move the Presbytery to petition both on the subject of Church Patronage, all the essential principles of the late Bill of the Duke of Argyll be in corporated therein. On Saturday last, the Royal Company of Archers, the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland, shot, in Hope Park, for the prize, the annual gift of her Most Gracious Majesty, when, a fter one of the m ost beautiful displays of archery in the history of the Ro y al Corn pany, it was gained by Nathaniel Spens , Esq./ of Craig anquhar.—Edinburgh Advertiser. THE SUN, LON.DON; TH_UItSDAYi AUGUST 12, 1841. HAYMARKET THEATRE. . . . A petite comedy, in two acts , entitled Foreign A ff a i rs or, the Court of Queen Anne, was produced at t i theatre last evening, for the first time. The following is an outline of the plot :—The Marchioness of Dumbarton (Mrs. W. Clifford), holding a high office in the Cdurt of Queen Anne, has managed to bring about a marriage between her daughter, Lady Bell (Miss P. Horton), and the Count St. Louis (Mademoiselle Celeste), a young French nobleman, Attache to the French Embassy, only 16 years of age, and the spoiled darling of the ladies, treated and considered as a child by every one, al though deeming himself a man. The scene opens on the morning of the marriage, on which day St. Louis is presented at. Court. The sth article of the marriage contract is to the effect that instantly after the marriage the Count and his bride shall'be separated, and not see each other again until he shall have attained the age of twenty-one. The Count entreats his mother-in-law to rescind this article—she refuses—he is a mere child. He entreats his wife to run away with him, she refuses to run away with a child. He becomes enraged, and deter mines to prove to them that he is a man. He meets with Sir James Courtall (Webster), a libertine courtier. who persuades him that it is necessary he should make love to every woman he meets, and as the Count is not very au fait at English. kindly provides him with billets suited to all sorts and conditions of wo men. The Count, thus provided, determines to make love to the first lady he meets, who chances to be the Lady Grace (Miss Charles), the affianced of Sir James Courtall, and accordingly sends her one of these billets, whilst another is sent to the Baroness Fitzstoutz (Mrs. Stirling) ci-divant Mrs. Faddle. The late Mr. F., a tailor, having died and left her with a large for tune, she, as she describes it, baited her hook with a plum, and caught the Baron Fitzstoutz (Sinclair), a perfect model of decorum. She had known the Count in former days, when the late Mr. F. was tailor to the French Embassy, and therefore feels a great interest in his safety and well-being. Such is the state of affairs at the end of the first act. The scene of the second act is laid in the Count's own apartment. Lady Grace enters, and the Count flatters himself he has been successful ; but she returns him his note, telling him it is the very note which Sir James Courtall had written to , Lady Bell. While she is proceeding with her explanation a great uproar is heard, and he has only time to thrust her into a closet, telling her he will clap his hands as a signal that all is safe, when the Baronness Fitzstoutz enters, and after boxing his ears for his impudence in making love to her, tells him she is come to warn him that his mother-in-law has got an order for his arrest. Immediately the Marchioness of Dum barton is announced, and the Baroness becomes the tenant of another closet, opposite to that occupied by Lady Grace. The Marchioness, who is accompanied by her daughter, have scarcely left the room before Sir James Courtall and the Baron Fitzstoutz enter for the purpose of quizzing the Count, and tell him that before he can be considered as a man, lie must have been engaged in an intrigue and a duel—an affair of love and another of honour being as necessary to the completion of the manly character as a beard. He says, with regard to the first requisite, he will give them immediate proof, and, directing the eyes of Sir James to the closet of the Baronness, and those of the Baron to the closet of Lady Grace, claps his hands. Sir James and the Baron are in exstacies of de light, each taking the other for the dupe. "But the duel, Count," says Sir James. " I will have two," re plies the Count ; and, directing their attention to the opposite closets, again claps his hands. These two situations told amazingly, and were received with thun ders of applause. They fight, and Sir James and the Baron are wounded. Lady Bell, horrified at the idea of the danger of the Count, pro ceeds to his residence, and finds him just after his return from the duel. In reply to her reproaches, he asks what harm there can be in a child doing these things. She acknowledges he is no longer a child, and consents to remain with him, notwithstanding the oppo sition of her mother, mutual explanations take place, Sir James is united to Lady Grace, and the curtain falls. Celeste acted St. Louis with great vivacity and elegance, and her broken English added vastly to the interest of the part. She was rapturously applauded throughout, and was called for at the conclusion of the piece, and re ceived with the usual honours. The Baron and Baroness were excellently acted by Strickland and Mrs. Stirling, the latter was the quintessence of good-humoured, warm hearted vulgarity. The scenery and furniture was splendid, and in the purest taste, and the piece has evi dently been got up with the greatest attention. Webster announced the comedy for repetition every eirening, amidst the unanimous applause of a very crowded house LITERATURE. AMENITIES OF LITERATURE. —3 Vols. Moxon, London, 1841. Mr. D'lsraeli, to 'whose practised pen we are indebted for these volumes, is one of the neatest and most entertaining writers of the day. The department he has chosen is not a very extensive or important one, but he has' brought to it all the resources of a skilful and accomplished mind. His manner is uniformly attractive ; and in the easy, unembarrassed flow of his style, may not unaptly be compared to Hume. He departed, however, from his usual cool and healthy judg ment, when, in one: of his earliest and best works, he drew his - illuStration of the literary character from RousSeau, who, if not quite mad, was in a state closely:approaching to madness, and can never, therefore, be justly put forth as a sample of the fraternity. ' his present vo lumes, Mr. D'lsraeli exhibits . much of that amus ing power of gossip and light narrative which so delighted us in his former works. 'His Ame fifties of Literature" has a soft of family like ness to his " Curiosities,. With this exception, that they have more unity of design, and are more fully charged with information.' Front few of the opinions broached in them do we find cause to dissent, but among these few is the following, which is pronounced on Henry the Eighth : " The passions of his own times secured his popu 7 larity even to his latter days. Youthful, with all its vigorous and generous temper, and not inferior in the majesty of his intellect auy more than in that of his person; learned in his closet, yet enterprising in action, this sovereign im pressed his own commanding character, on the nation." We doubt much the generosity of Henry's nature, of which Mr. D'lsraeli here speaks. Hume, indeed, praises • his magnani mity, but lie adduces no proof.of it; and Tytler, a sounder authority, most distinetlY states—un less our memory greatly deceives -1 / 1 8—that he never had anything generotis or Itle.. abput him. He was showy, extravagant, ,m4'4 . ieren good-natured, so long as youth and health lasted, but nothing more. In later days, he degenerated into one of the most cruel, vindic the, sensual despots, that Ragland had ever known. As for his popularity, the frequent conspiracies that occurred towards the close of his life, prove that it could not have been very great ; and, so far from his impressing " a com manding character" on the nation, never was a Parliament so abject, so sycophantic, as dui , : ing the latter portion of his reign. His learning cannot be denied. Erasmus bears testitnony to his classical and other acquirements; .but it was rather reading . he possessed, than an en larged and majestic intellect. • Our author's spe culations on the private character of the Earl of Leicester the haughty favourite of Queen Elizabeth—are as just as they are ingenious; and not less happy is he in his sketch of Hooker, of whom he justly says, " he is the first vernacu lar writer whose classical pen harmonized a numerous prose. While his earnest eloquence, freed from all scholastic pedantry, assumed a style stately in its structure, his gentle spirit sometimes flows into natural humour, lovely in the freshness of its simplicity." In closing our short notice of these pleasant volumes, we should not omit to mention that they are introduced by a brief preface, wherein the author touchingly alludes to his own deprivation of sight, and the affectionate solicitude of his son in preparing the manuscript for the press. EXTENSIVE CONFLAGRATION AT BLACKHEATH. On Tuesday morning, between one and two, a most destructive fire broke out in the Grove, Blackheath, nearly opposite the Green Man, •by which property of the most valuable description, to the amount of 20,0001., has been destroyed. One of the mansions in the Grove, of immense size, is completely down, and the adjoining one greatly damaged. It appears • that Captain Waller and his family have only been from the East Indies about five weeks, and had taken the above residence, furnished, the Captain bringing with him property to the amount of several thousands, the whole of which has been de stroyed. The fire is supposed to have been caused by the negligence of a dress-makeremployed in the house. The house and furniture, belonging to Mrs. Dessen, is insured in the Phoenix, but none of Captain Waller's property is covered by any of the fire-offices. DISCOVERY OF A HOUSE UNDER GROUND. NE wßuss, AUG UST 3, 1841. — An under - ground house was discovered last week near the old road leading from Newbliss to Monaghan, and about three miles from the latter town, and from its perfect state of preservation formed a most curious relic of antiquity. A man who lately got possession of the farm upon which it is situated, went to remove an unsightly hillock in a small meadow close to his house. This little field had been reclaimed a few years ago, after the turf had been cut off it, and from it to the small lake of Keshlin (about three hundred yards elow it) was, in the mein:6l'y 'of an olii man living near it, one continued heath moor, with several spades' depth of turf under it ; and he had seen seven spits of turf cut off the hillock which formed the roof of the house. The outer wall is forty-six feet by about sixteen. Outside the entrance is a semicircular court-yard, the base of the wall surrounding it, as well as that of all the other walls, is composed of large rough stones, some of them several tons weight, standing on their ends, something like those of Stonehenge. The entrance divided the semicircular wall into two equal segments, and was formed with two larger stones than the others, sufficiently apart to admit a man with ease. Inside the entranee was an oval apart ment, about twelve feet by eight, which was arched over from within about four feet of the base. The arch was composed of flat stones of different sizes, so carefully selected - and fitted (though there was not a cut stone in the whole building), that the point of a penknife could scarcely be inserted between them. Each stone pro jected about a quarter of an inch from the underneath one, until they met at the top of the roof, which was about six feet from the ground. Opposite the entrance, at the other end of this room, w as a similar entrance into a lobby, which led straight to the other extremity of the building, and off which were six other apart ments, all square, and built and roofed in the same manner as the first oval one. The two standing stones .forming the entrance from this latter room into the cor ridor, stood somewhat narrower than those of the prin cipal entrance, and were rubbed and worn on one par ticular part, as it were from the weapons of the in ‘4abitants returning from their hunting or plunder ing excursions. The whole of the floor inside was flagged with slabs of the same stone, and the outside of the roof covered with the same material, which is the most remarkable circumstance connected with it, as the nearest freestone quarry is on Carronmore mountain, in Fermanagh, about twenty miles from this "place, and the stone there does not cleave into slabs, and is of quite a different grain, the former exactly resembling the Scotch sand-stone found along the Clyde. Some maintain that this antique piece of architecture musts be antideluvian ; but the circumstance of the interleaf) having been found perfectly clean, with the exception of the juice of the bog-stuff covering it having • trickled'down, down_ the walls (and this black appearance may hub been caaused by the effect of smo k e , a lthough there was no other indication of fire having been used inside), it may be concluded, from the number of what are called in the south of Ireland " follagh feeah," (deer fire), that this edifice has been the abode of hunters, and that the turf-mould was first excavated in order to build it, and then laid back again for the purpose of concealment. Many of his neighbours say that the owner of the ground, who has dug up part of the house, found some great curiosities in it ; but he himself denies it, with the exception of a round slab of sand stone, with some cha racters scratched upon it, and one of his children let it fall and broke it.—. Dublin Evening Mail. THE WESLEYAIg CONFERENCE. On Wednesday morning, a letter from the Rev. Mr. Hodgson, a clergyman of the Established Church, re commending a union of the Wesleyans with the Church, was brought before the Conference, and gave rise to a long and interesting discussion, Among the speakers was Dr. Bunting, who took occasion to oserve, in re ference to one portion of the letter stating that those of the Wesleyan ministers who had passed the Presidential Chair should be made Bishops—that no power whatever should ever induce or compel him to be made a Bishop. He had received a gre a t number of communications on the Subject of the union of the Methodists with the Church ; and he was induced to believe that many persons attributed to him a power and an influence which he did not possess. Why those communications were addressed so pre-eminently to him, he could not conceive; but the fact was, that he had received two letters from Mem bers of Parliament, thanking him for their elections, though he did not know those gentlemen had had no previous communicaion with them, and was totally ignorant, before they themselves informed him, that they had been elected at all. One of the Mem bers in question was a Tory, and the other was a Whig. He mentioned that to show what a mistaken notion some people had of his influence and import ance in connection with the Wesleyan body. In the course of discussion, it was stated that no official cor respondence could be entered into with Mr. Hodgson, as he could have no power or authority to make any proposition that would be regarded by the Church at large as authoritative. It was, however, resolved that a reply be sent to him, thanking him for his kind mo tives in writing the letter, and expressing a desire that a &Teeter unammity of feeling may obtain among all religious denominations. This discussion occupied the greater portion of the forenoon. At five in the after noon the Conference re-assembled for the ordination of the young men who were admitted to the ministry, of whom there are between 30 and 40. The public were admitted, and the chapel was filled to overflowing. On Thursday afternoon, in consequence of the Stationing Committee being required to commence its delibera tions, the general body did not sit more than about an hour. In the evening, the Rev. Robert Newton, the ex-President, delivered a charge to the newly-ordained Ministers, in Oldham-street Chapel. The Service was open to the public, and the congregation was very numerous. On the question of the silk gown, the Con ference has decided that no preacher shall wear it w ithout express permission from the Conference ; and Dr. Bunting, by the direction of the Committee, admi nistered a reproof to the Rev. W. Bunting and the Rev. pu l p it. Yesterday the Conf erence was occup i e d i n l in Mr t . h W e addy, of Hull, for having appeare d i n the gown fixing the stations of the various ministers for, the ensu ing year. We may mention, for the amusement of our readers, that a Mrs. Martin, a lecturer on Socialism, Sent a challenge to the Conference to discuss certain topics in connection with her views ; but we hardly need state that the Conferenee did not accept the invitation. We believe that the Conference has not returned any answer to the letter from the Committee of Arrangement for the proposed conference of ministers on the Corn-laws. —Manchester Guardian. SALE of the KEYNSHAM ESTATE The estates of Keynsham cleave not to their master Though they have been in the hands of the Chandos Dukes since the time of the Sixth Edward, they are now evanishing from their possession, fading like the subtle illusion of the Arabian mirage from the sight and remem - brances of Buckingham. Nevertheless, the prices realised by the Duke for his broad acres were certainly fine equivalents, as will appear on statement that the Keynsham property, consisting of 1,183 acres of land, laving. on its superfices sundry farm-buildings, public houses, quarries of limestone, and two wharfs, the yearly rental of which is estimated at 3,0001. per annum, pro duced, even though some few lots were bought in by the proprietor, the handsome sum of 70,000/. One lot, which consisted of no more than 44 acres, number 47 in the Auction Catalogue, sold for the golden heap of 4,000 5 while lot 56, containing only a couple of roods and two and twenty perches, realized no less than 3001. Soil of Golconda could scarce fetch more. The property thus disposed of on Wednesday and Thursday last at Bristol, lays claim to no trivial an tiquity. In the time of William the Conqueror, Keynsham had the following description : " The Kingholds CAINESHAN. In the time of King Ed ward it gelded for forty hides. The arable is one hundred carucates. Thereof are in demesne fifteen hides and a half, and there are ten carucates, and twenty servants, and seventy villanes, and forty cottagers, with sixty three ploughs. There are six mills of sixty shillings rent, and one hundred acres of meadow, and one hun dred acres of pasture. Wood one mile long, and as much broad. It renders one hundred and eight pounds by tale. It did render fourscore pounds." The legendary history of this estate will perhaps be read with interest. Keynsham, say the Monkish Chronicles of the four teenth century, derived its name from one Keyna, a Bri tish virgin, in the year 490, daughter of Prince Bra ganus. This charming lady, when she arrived at years of maturity, attracted multitudes of admirers, and manswere the noble persons who sought her in marriage. All overtures, however, fell unheeded upon her ear, for sh* had consecrated her virginity by a perpetual vow:. Therefore the Britons called her Keyn-Wyryf, which , means, by interpretation, Keyna, the Virgin. With a mind prone to sacredness and solitude, Keyna deter mined to seek some solitary spot or wilderness where she might fence herself round about with a holy privacy, and dedicate her days to praise and devotion. Tying on her broidered sandals, 'she journied along till she came to the blue waters of the Avon, and after searching about the greenwoods of these parts, found a woody and se cluded spot, which pleased her greatly. Whereupon she forthwith made a request to the Prince of the country, that she might there be permitted to pray and live holily in peaceful retirement. " Ready am I," said the Prince, " to grant you your request, fair Virgin, but, truth to say, the place so swarms with deadly serpents, that neither man nor beast can live therein." To which the Virgin replied that she firmly trusted she should be able to drive all the venomous brood out of the country. Here upon the place was granted her. Now Keyna was a chaste and holy maid, abounding in the viours of prayer, and strong in the fervencies of the spirit. As Aaron lifted up the serpents in the wilderness, :o Keynas, by the mighty efficacy of her prayerfulness and continual implorations, was invested by heaven with supernatural gifts over the serpentry that glided about the place like flames of fire, and the celestial spells with which she thus became armed extirpated the entire brood of deadly amphisbwna.s. Thus, continues the Chronicle, Keyna drove out all the serpents, and to this day, continues the Monk, the stones in Keynsham resemble the windings of serpents through all the fields and villages, as if they had been so framed by the hand of the engraver, going by the name of Cornua Ammonis, or snake-stones. Keynsham came into the hands of the Chandos family, of which the present Duke is the last representative, in the time of Edward the Sixth, in the sixth year of his reign (1552), it being then granted to Thomas Bridges, in consideration of the sum of 9221.25. 2ad . This Thos. Bridges was the second son of Sir Giles Bridges, of Coberley, in the county of Gloucester, and brother of Sir John Bridges, created Baron Chandos, of Sudeley Castle, in Gloucester, April 8, 1554—a family which de rived their origin from a younger branch of the old Montgomeries. This Sir Thomas was of the Court of Henry the Eighth, and one of those who attended the King's funeral, bearing the dragon-standard, In the sale which was made on Thursday, besides the stone quarries, particular reservation was made of the tithes and advowson of the parish , a nd from p arcels in the original deed of conveyance, which was that time given by the King to the above-mentioned Thomas Bridges, and which, up to this time, have remained in the hands of the Duke of Buckingham, will be seen of what this reservation consisted. Accordingly we find therein conveyed, " All that the rectory and church of Keynsham, and right of patronage of the same, and all tithes called the Strewe-Tything ; also all houseq, lands, barns, tithes, glebes, tithes of grain and hay, and all other tithes, as well as oblations and profits belonging to the said rectory; also all the tithes of Chewton," &c. &c. When, therefore, it is considered that so great a reser vation of patronage and monetary profit is still retained by the Duke of Buckingham, this, and the simulta neous transfer into his coffers of so rich a plomb as 70,0001., will very materially tend to stifle many hard longings after the mills, quarries, and cavitiesb of Keyn sham. JAMES HATFIELD AND THE BEAUTY OF BUTTERMERE.—We are old enough (says a Contem porary) to remember when the fate of James Hatfield and the Beauty of Buttermere made a greater sensation in England than any public event. All were interested in it. The story is new revived, and although facts are not literally adhered to, they are' not more departed from than might have been expected, and the whole are corn bined,and the subject is altogether managed with such skill and talent as to produce a very entertaining work, which, from its nature, will, we have no doubt, be most extensively read. Mr. Cruikshank has been in his hap piest mood in illustrating the work, and he evinces more than ever his usual taste and judgment. The reader will find much amusing matter respecting the highest personages of the period in which the catastrophe hap pened. Lord Camelford figures appropriately in the work, and the Prince Regent, Tom Moore, &c. appear on the scene, with that celebrated beauty, wit, arid dis sipated lady, the Duchess of Devonshire. THE HARVEST. The weather has been bright, but, for the seasons.un usually cold. The harvest has partially commenced round this neighbourhood, but, owing to the late rains and wind, the corn has been much laid, and consequently in many places is still quite green, On the contrary, however, we have seen some fine fields of grain, which appear to have sustained no injury from the recent rains. The turnip plant looks well, and a full crop may be re lied on. A good second hay crop may be expected.— Cambridge Advertiser. The wheat, barley, and oats, have been very much in jured by the high wind and rain ; the wheat in several fields has grown from the ear, and if this inclement weather continues, the consequences will be very serous. Reaping has commenced in the neighbourhood of Peck ham, and will become general there next week.—Maid stone Journal. The wheat harvest in this neighbourhood is now be come pretty general, and there will be a fair • average crop.—Bury Herald. _ _ _ The long-continued wet weather has had a most dis astrous effect on the hay crops in many parts of this county, and large quantities have been totally spoiled. A considerable breadth of barley has been laid by the heavy rains, and the quality thereby much damaged. Wheat and oats generally look well, and of these an abundant crop may be anticipated should the weather prove favourable.—Boston Herald. NEW ROMNEY.—The harvest has partially commenced iu the marsh, the wheats are very much scrawled and in jured by the wet, pease have also suffered much, and the hav-making has been deplorable.—Kentish Gazette. 'GLASGOW.—The weather continues variable—at one time showers of rain, and anon sunshine. The crops are still looking well, but dry weather for a few days would would be highly acceptable. All accounts agree that -there is a prospect of an abundant harvest ; and if the weather continue favourable, so as to allow it to be safely got in, it is not likely that the price will rise to the im portation level.—Glasgow Courier. RENFREWSHIRE.—The past week has been a most favourable one for ripening and maturing. During the beginning of last week we had a few warm sunshine days ; the latter half has been warm and cloudy, with occasional showers, well calculated to refresh the pota toes, turnips, and even the oat crop, which too much heat ripens prematurely. The hay crop is now completely se cured in this district, and coming forward to market ; and although it is ratber under an average crop this sea son, the current prices are low. All the other descrip tions of crop continue to exhibit an early and luxuriant appearance ; and as a sample of the abundant appearance of oats, we may state that Mr. Gardner, of Nethereom mon, has a field in which the stalks average from five to six feet in length—many of them measures six and a half feet ; and on one stalk, pulled almost promiscuously from the edge of the plot, near which we happened to survey it, we counted no less than 174 grains.—Glasgow Courier. The present period being most momentous with re spect to the crops and the prospects of harvest, we give a summary of information collected from correspondents conversant with the subject. The wheat crop has been generally represented to us as partaking of the damage to which it has been subject for the last five or six years; the injury is far greater than any which existed last year, but does not prevail to such an extent as in some previous seasons. Though we have to regret that the damage is so great this year, yet it is not so general as most persons are led to believe. With respect to oats and barley, they are both average-looking crops .; the former very superior. The rain which has fallen this week has prostrated a considerably quantity of corn ; and should it continue, it is likely to do great harm. Po tatoes. are not generally so good as it was thought they. would be ; the late crop being bad in many districts. With respect to the harvest, it will be late ; there are, however, many fields of early oats which will' soon be giving way to the efforts of the reapers ; and in some the sickle has already been put into operation.—Drogheda Journal, _ _ _ COMMENCEMENT OF THE HARVEST.—Notwithstanding the general prevalence of wet weather, and the back • wardness of the crops generally, Mr. Hallett began har vesting on Monday at Kemp-town Farm, and cut wheat, barley, and oats.—BrightOn Guardian. We have had all varieties of unfavourable weather since our last, from the furious wind and beating rain of Thursday night, to the close, damp atmosphere of Sun day and yesterday. The corn ill the heighbourhood is very much beaten down, and much of it has an unhealthy colour. After-grass, turnips, and potatoes look well. The hay harvest is now pretty nearly finished. It has been the longest and worst that we have had for many years. Th corn' harvest will be very late in Lancashire and throughout. the north of England.— Liverpool Times. THE HARVEST IN THE SOUTH.—A friend of ours, who visited Hampshire and the Isle of Wight last informs us that there was a good deal of grain cut in that neighbourhood, and that the crops appeared to him to look well.—lbid. Warm and mild weather continued up to Wednesday, and the crops made considerable progres.. On Thirr.i day; however, we'had rain during the whole day. nigh and drying winds followed on Friday, but rain Tell again on Saturday, especially towards Sunday morning, when it came down in torrents. Several wheat and barley fields are beginning to colour, but a late harvest is now inevitable. Heavy showers fell again this morning, but notwithstanding, Sunday and Monday may be ranked under the category. ,of favourable days.—Durnfries Courier. . EARLY BARLRY.—Mr. Harry Tyson, of Lorton Hi 'e Side, commenced cuttin g a field of barley on the 24th ult. upon his farm there, belonging ' holonginr , to G. L. Bragg, Esq. The seed was sown on the 11th March. The crop is light but perfectly matured, and of excellent quality.— Carlisle Patriot. THE REV. HUGH M‘NEILE AND THE CORN-LAWS. We copy the following sensible observations from a pamphlet recently issued by a working man, in reply to Mr. M'Neile's late effusion at the Liverpool Ampitheatre, on the subject of the Corn-laws :--" But, fellow-work men, if it be so glorious a thing to be ' independent of foreigners,' how comes it that we are to be independent for bread alone ? Why not for tea, coffee, sugar, rice, spice's, cotton, silk, in short for everything ? We never hear the men who now talk so loudly of independence endeavouring to persuade us to have such a ' love' for English dried leaves, for instance, as to refuse tea, merely that we may be ' independent of fo reigners.' How does this happen ? I can think of but one reason—they have no interest in endeavouring to mislead us on this matter. If, however, the land owners of this country derived a large income from drying, and selling at an extravagant price, the leaves of the trees on their estates, and it were proposed-for the first time to-have a free trade to China, we should have as great an outcry as we now hear against a free trade in corn ; many a hireling lawyer, and ' hypocri tical parsons' in abundance, would stand forth with brazen front to -tell us that such trade would reduce our wages, tad bring ruin on the country ; and, I am sorry to say, any a solemn fool would be found among us ready to elieve and applaud them. Cultivate a love for every thing English, says Mr..g'Neile. Depend not on foreign countries for supplies. Well, then, my friends, if this ,principle be good for any thing, let -it not be confined to corn. Let it be carried our, and extended to every thing. Let us destroy our ships, and make corn fields of our docks.. Let us hold no communication with ' outer strangers.' Let us be even worm than the Chinese, and prevent any ' foreign' vessels from coming near our shores. Yea more, we must banish all ' aliens' from our land. We must have no ' barbarian" hypo critical parsons' from the sister island. Mr. M'Neile must no longer be permitted to live on ' English oxen , and sheep, and hogs, and poultry ;' but must be sent, like an Irish goose, to feed and cackle on the bogs of Ireland ; or, if he like it better, and the nations of bears and lions have no antipathies to ' foreigners,' he can try his favourite experiment of civilizing them by persuading them to pay him a tax upon their food. Fellow-workmen, oh ! is it not a melancholy spectacle to behold a man who has sworn that he is ' moved by the Holy Ghost,' to teach, among other things, the universal brotherhood of man—that God has made of one blood ALL nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth ; is it not a melancholy spectacle to behold such a man striving to perpetuate the foolish prejudices of rude and barbarous ages ; endeavouring to foster an tipathies between man and man, and to excite mutual jealousies and distrusts between members of the same great family, merely because they speak a different tongue, and are separated by a sheet of water ? I, although a poor ignorant working man, with no educa tion save what I have been able to pick up for myself ; and, moreover, not having the advantage of being espe cially ' moved by the Holy Ghost,' should be utterly ashamed of exhibiting this extreme narrowness of mind, this wretched poverty and contractedness of soul. The great Creator having bestowed different capabilities on different countries, it must surely be most advantageous for each nation to devote its energies to what can be produced at the least cost, and exchange its commodities , freely with the world." VEGETABLES AND HERBS KNOWN IN ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRTEEETH CEN TURY.-It cannot fail to be remarked, in perusing the roll, that very few esculent plants are mentioned. Dried peas and beans; parsley, fennel, onions, green peas, and new beans are the only species named. Pot herbs, of which the names are not specified, but which served eleven days, cost sixpence. If any other vegetables were in general use at the time, they i were, perhaps, comprised un d e r the term " potagium. There, is,_ however, much uncertainty upon the subject o f the cultivation of veg e ta bles, in this country, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Cresses, endive, lettuce, beets, parsnips, carrots, cabbage, leeks, raddishes, and cardoons were grown in France during the reign of Charlemagne ; but it is doubtful whether many . of these varieties had penetrated into England at an early period. Thd most skilful horticulturists of the middle ages were ecclesiastics, and it is possible that in the gardens of mo nasteries many vegetables were reared which were not in common use among the laity. Even in the fifteenth cen tury, the general produce of the English kitchen garden was contemptible when compared with that of the Low Countries, France, and Italy. Gilbert Kymer can enu merate only,.besides a few wild and forgotten sorts, cab bage, lettuce, spinach, beet-root, trefoil, bugles, boragc, celery, purslane, fennel, smallage, thyme, hyssop, par sley, mint, a species of turnip, and small white onions. According to him, all those plants were boiled with meat. lie observes also, that some were eaten raw, in spying and ' summer, with olive oil and spices, but questions the pro priety of the custom. This is, perhaps, the .:earliest no tice extant of the use of salads in England.—Manners and Household Expenses of England in the Thirteenth Century. A a TRAGEDY IN HIGH LIFE.—A horrible tragedy has just taken place at Florence. Two sons of Lord A. (who has a villa near Florence) went into the town a few days since to look at some horses at a livery stable, when a quarrel ensued, and words ran high between them; nevertheless, they returned home apparently recon ciled to. each other, and dined and slept as usual under their father's roof. The next day they again went out, ostensibly to shoot ; but the younger • brother, a lad of 18, still nourished a deadly resentment to Ms elder brother, a young man of 23, on account of the dispute of the pre ceding day, and upon a bird getting up; he deliberately levelled his Fun and aimed at his brother ; but only suc ceeding iu slightly wounding him in the side; he drew a pistol, and took a surer aim by shooting him in the back of the neck, and raising ,up part of the skin of the head. As soon as his brother had fallen this mo dern Cain fled into a neighbouring vineyard, where several contadini seized him, and, remonstrating with him upon this horrible conduct, told him that he would come to the galleys at last. To which he replied, with great defiance, "No, no, thank you; I shall never come to the galleys 1" drew another pistol from his pocket, and, opening his mouth, shot himself dead on the spot. The corpse of this unfortunate suicide and fratricide was left to blacken for many hours, unheeded, beneath the scorching rays of an Italian sun, while the wounded body of the elder brother was conveyed home to his father, who is said to have exclaimed on seeing it—not knowing the fate of his other son—" If that most unnatural wretch escape the gallows, it will not be my fault." His Lordship was heard the next day giving, with self-collectedness, a detailed account of this horrible affair at Fenzi's, , the banker's, previously to his departure for Leghorn. .Meanwhile a council of some hours' duration was held at Lord Holland's, as to whether the suicide should be buiied in'consecrated ground or not ; it was at length decided that he should ; so accord ingly, by torch-light, with 'no other, attendants but the clergyman and sexton, the body was consigned to the grave, and thus closed 'this fearful domestic tragedy, worthy of the Borgias and their times. ' The life of the wounded brother is still precarious.—Court .Journal. AN IDIOT'S HAPPlNESS.—Barnaby's joyments were to walk and run, and leap, till he was tired; then to lie down in the long grass, or by the tow ing corn, or in the shade of some tall tree, looking upward at the lii,ht clouds as they floated over the blue sur facie, of the sky, an& listening. ,to• ttso lark as she poured out her brilliant song. There were wild flowers to pluck—the bright red poppy, the gentle harebell, the cowslip, and the rose. There were birds to swatch ; fish ; ants ; worms ; hares or rabbits, as they dashed across the distant pathway in the wood, and so were gone ; millions of living things to have an interest in, and lie in 'wait for, and clap hands and shout in memory of, when they had disappeared. In default of these, or when they wearied, there was the merry sunlight to hunt out, as it crept in aslant through • leaves and boughs of trees, and hid far down—deep, deep, in hollow places—like a silver pool, where nodding branches seemed to bathe and sport ; sweet scents of summer air breath ing over fields of beans or clover ; the perfume of wet leaves or moss ; the life of waving trees, and shadows always changing. When these or any of them tired, or in excess of pleasing tempted him to shut his eyes, there was slumber in the midst of all these soft delights, with the genti.e wind murmuring like music in his ears, and everything around melting into one delicious dream. —Boz. BREAD USED IN ENGLAND FOUR HUNDRED YEARS Aco.—lt would appear that bread of dif ferent degrees of fineness was used ; thus there is " bread purchased for the Countess" and " bread for the kitchen." Loaves or cakes made of bolted flour, and called " bole-tella," are twice mentioned, as well as " gas- . . telli," cakes or wastels, perhaps. biscuits; on one occasion, half a quarter of flower is set down for pastry. It is reasonable to infer, that the bread gene rally used in the family was made of the grain called mystelon, a term yet in use at the beginning of the six teenth century, and applied to a mixture of wheat and rye. As the dogs were fed on corn, it may be concluded that the servants fared no worse, at any rate there is no distinct notice of bread made of barley, oats, or the more inferior grain which were commonly used in France and other countries. It is not clear that, their bread was leavened with yeast, as that article occurs but once, and then in connection mith malt. The price of the quarter of wheat or rye varied from ss. to ss. Bd. ; of oats, from 2s. to 2s. 4d. ; twenty -five, however, were bought at Sandwich, at Is. 10d. When grain was brought from the Countess's mpnors, some of the prices were below' the average. The bililiff of Chalton was allowed ss. the quarter for wheat, -4s. for barley, and 2s. 4d. for oats; the bailiff of Braborne had 4s. 4d. for wheat, and is. 3d. for oats. The item which follows bread is wine, of which only two sorts are named in the early part of`the roll, red and white.' The wines drank in England during the thirteenth century came chiefly from Guienne ; others from the vineyards of Anjou, Aucerne, and Poitou. Gascon wine is not espe cially mentioned until towards the end of the document, in August, when that and the wine called Bastard be came the general drink of the family, The term Bas tard was given to all mixed and sweetened wines ; an English writer, however, who lived in the fifteenth cen tury, reckons Bastard among those wines which were naturally sweet, and, therefore, unwholesome. It is called sweet wine in the roll. Little information is given as to the price of wine : we find that the sum of 9s. 2d. was .paid for twenty-twa.galllons—and_that two tuns Cost 31. Bs. Gd.—Manners and Household Expenses of 'Eng land in the Thirteenth Century. .._ A FACT IN FAVOUR OF THE BALLOT. — Let the opponents of protection to the voter—let those shilly-shallyers who thihk " the time has not yet come" for the application of the Ballot—read and ponder the following startling and significant truth. The Duke of Northumberland has four hundred tenants-at-will pos sessing votes in North Northumberland, and the poll books show that out of these four hundred the number who voted in favour of Lord Ilowick amounted precisely to two !—not two hundred, but two single individuals. To add one word by way of showing the full meaning of this fact would be superfluous—to proceed to argue from it would only weaken its force. No man in his senses would venture to say that there is to be found in broad Britain a rural parish, or a street of a town, con taining 400 inhabitants, 398 of whom are, to a man, of one mind in politics, or in almost anything else regard ing which there can be more than one opinion ; and no honest man will attempt to avoid the inference that not some, but many out of these 398 of the Duke's tenants must have been coerced to vote against their wishes and convictions. It may be added that those who possess the best means of forming an opinion on the sub ject—from acquaintanceship, local residence, and being engaged in the late canvass—estimate that (plumpers and splits together) 350 out of the 400 were desirous, were eager, to vote fur Lord Howick ; and of these, all but two suffered their independence to be trampled down by the myrmidons of the Castle ! High honour to the Two !—the brave and honest two ! The Lord of Aln wick Castle ought to be prouder of numbering among his tenailts these two, who, like men and Englishmen, with stood his tyranny, and defended and preserved their rights, than of the hundreds of serfs who suffered him to rob them of their freedom, their honesty, and their self. respect.—Berwick Advertiser. SWAMPING OF A PORTION OF BLACK FRIABS-BRIDGE PlER.—About six o'clock on Monday evening a barge, comprising a portioh of the above pier, was swamped in the following manner :—lt appears that the barge, which had been recently boarded over, and seats fixed thereupon for the accommodation of passen gers, was used only . at the receding of the tide for the purpose of lengthening the pier, but on the return thereof it was moored under the first arch of the bridge. On the present occasion it was nearly half-tide, and the man whose duty it was to perform the office had just unfast ened the rope by which it was moored to the arch, when the swell occasioned by two or three steam-vessels caused her . to go down. She was an old leaky craft, and totally unfit for the purpose she was used, and it is perhaps a most fortunate circumstance that she was not in her sta tion at the time of the occurrence, as great inconvenience, if not fatal results, might have been the consequence, and thus have added to the melancholy loss of human life al ready experienced at tliis truly dangerous and Kto the City) disgraceful landing. During her Majesty's and the Prince's brief sta' at Pansanier, two 0 - ceiQuiis 'arc said to have happened Royali.Tihlisresutrriivniaisledoetchuerrreunseteis we are awarecs by appearin g it l N l th no en ng th i e heu are in themselves but of little importance ; but, as th ey Queen and her her kindnessiilust and unostenta r. are tiou s calculated il abitsof to shtheo give them. Her Majesty is, as our readers lolls Consort, we perhaps, habitually an early riser. During may be aware Pansanger she was abroad as early her stay at company with Prince Albert. On as seven o'clock, in one of the se morningexcursions she was desirous of seeing lodge situate a in a dell on the left a charming little Park from Hertingfordbury. Thes you pass th roug h the unprepared for so distinguished rustic p ar ty were quite accord ingly the gamekeeper addressed an honour, and homage than he would have them at first with less was fortunate enough to 'e paid to his Sovereign. He made reparation for his r his error in time, and visitors his mistaku.by showing his illus triousthem exceedingly different specireens of game, many of with which they beautiful and of uncommon kinds, and seemed exceed' 01 leased. The affec tionine, y p the royal pair discovered towards each other not a little, we believe, to have suspected astonished the rustic. He appuccarh s never sympathies as those which Queens and r Princes of . p iiced by ' the com mon_ herd. How was his w a •o e nd e e x i erainesed at hearing her Majesty address the Prince as 44 m y d e ar." It would have comported more, no doubt, with his notions of regal eti quette for her Majesty to have addressed him as " Your loyal Highnes s P r i nc e Albert of Sa xe Coburg, &c. &c. &c• but no such thing was the case. Here is a reve lation for married folks. Don't be frightened of being thought vulgar through cherishing those natural and in teresting emotions which husbands and wives ought ever to feel towards one another, for your Queen thinks it not t hem.-011 another occasion unbecoming her to display the Prince, who was passing through a Roy gate lHighest, ob at Herting - fordburv, was recognise d by a lad. His a serving the boy's amazement, accosted him, " Well, my e " ~ Yes, I do," replied the urchin, man, you don't know m . " You arc Prince Albert." The Prince smiled, and asked him how he knew. " Because," replied the boy, by no means disconcerted, "of the hair you have got there," and with this be drew his fingers across his upper lip. These arc circumstances trifling in themselves, we are aware, and only derive their interest from the per sons with whom we associate them. " Fama atque for tuna pares sunt ; qui magnus imperio prcediti in exce'so wtatcin agunt, corm facts, cuncti mortales novere." We do not see a'Queen every day, and neither is the British throne always graced by so good, so patriotic, and, in the truest sense, by so noble a lady as she who presides ove r the British nation. Every little incident relating to her possesses interest. Such curiosity is laudable. Let those cavil at it who feel no admiration for the MORNING SU S finest parts of our common nature. Betis steicisin far fromus.—Hcrts Reformer.. CORN DEALERS.—The Tory .Journals__. nave republished the case of a man who was con)C44 Evn attempt at Cambridge, in the year 1741, to rafse the price of corn. They call the article punishment of Corn jobbers. Do they mean, then, to revive the punishment for forestalling and - regrating ! Or, do they mean to confine the Corn-trade, as well as the growing of corn, to the hands of the re n t- owners , and their depen dent tenants at will ? SUDDEN DEATH.--AR awful instance of 'sua den death occurred to Mr. Deadman, the proprietor of the Star Inn, Shoreham. On Monday last the unfortu nate gentleman was riding up Buckingham-lane,Brighton, on horseback, at a slow pace, when a man observed his hat fall off, and picked it up, but before he could give it him the deceased f e ll to th e groun d. Medical assistance was immediately procured, but it was of no avail. The deceased was subject to a disease of the heart. The population of Edinburgh was, :according to the Zdinburgh Advertiser, 136,054 ; it is now, according to the.recent census, 138,194, showing an apparent in crease in the ten years of 2,140. But at the same period the population of the Castle was not included, and, deducting:its present amount, 1,022, the real in crease of the Edinburgh population in ten years is only 1,118. SINGULAR SAGACITY OF A BIRD.—On Sa turday last, as three mowers were engaged cutting hay on the farm of Heap, in the neighbourhood of Hawick, one of their scythes came in contact with that rarely seen bird the Landrail, or Corn-craik, and cut off a part of one of its wings, and a small portion of the scalp, but the skull was uninjured. The men looked for a little at the rare bird this mutilated, and then set it free in its natural haunt— . " 'Mang fields of flowing clover gay," and thought. no more of it. Next morning, however, as a cottager and his wife, who live at the end of the field, were sitting at breakfast, they were agreeably surprised by the entrance of the maimed emigrant into the cottage. It walked deliberately into the middle of the floor, and latterly retired below the bed. It now occasionally ven tures out, and seems fond of flies and small reptiles, and even at times accepts of a few crumbs of bread. It is 'going on well, and appears quite contented with the do mestic station it has chosen for itself, being probably aware that it cannot this season wing its annual way— " Frac our cauld shore." Should it outlive the winter, it will perhaps be the first. ..41, ! ;,, its liberty when its tribe arrives in spring.—Kelso MotT. The Duchess of Hamilton, accompanied by the Marquis of Douglas, arrived on Monday lastl in Paris. The Duchess goes direct from the French capital to Italy, with the intention of wintering in that country ; and the Marquis, who purposes making a tour in France, it is expected, will meet her Grace at Nice or Florence.— Glasgow Herald. COMMENCEMENT OF THE HARVEST.—Not withstanding the general prevalence of wet weather and the backwardness of the crops generally, Mr. Hallet began harvesting on Monday, at Kemp-town farm, and cut wheat, barley, and oats.—Brighton Guardian. CHELTENHAM AND GREAT ' WESTERN UNION RAlLWAY.—Contracts have been taken, and in some instances the. works have been commenced. fuv carrying on this line from its present terminus at Ciren cester towards Stroud and Gloucester. PROOF OF THE DISTRESS .OF THE WORKINIG CLASSES.—We lately gave a statement of the deliveies of raw sugar in this port from the Ist of January to the 24th of July, by which it will be perceived that the Vest India amounted, in 1841, to 39,301 hhds. and tres., 3ur reht price 365. Old. per cwt..; in 1840, to 57,340 hhds. and tres., current price 575. 2:ld. per cwt ; Alaurftins, in 1841, 224,177 bags ; in 1840, 856,992 bags. In the East India there is not much difference, arising from its . . being extensively used to reduce the quality of West India. The consumption of sugar therefore, is, in round numbers, one-third less, with a fall in price of One-third, which can only be accounted for by the diminished means of the people to consume it, from high prices of the other necessaries of life and want of employment. — Liverpool Times. I am requested by a gentleman, who arrived this morning from London, to caution the English pahlio against a system of gross imposition practised in lon don. Ile informs me that he and several others booked and paid for their places throughout to Paris, ea the as surance that they would have nothing else ,co pay ; but so far from this being the case, they were - eompelled to pay on board the steamer, it being clearly demonstrated to them that:-there was no conneetiou between the Steam Company and the parties booking in London ; and it ap pears that on arriving in Boulogne they bad also to pay at the Diligence-office for Paiis.—Paris CorrespOdence. FIGHT BETWEEN ,BRASSEY AND PARKER FOR 2001.—This battle took place on Tuesday, when, after a long and tedious fight, it terminated in favour of Parker. THE CONVICT MAJOR.—The Rnval clemency has been extended to William Major, and her Majesty has, in consequence of the report made to the Secretary of State, and Mr. Baron Rolfe's recommendation for mercy, been pleased to spare the aged man's life, who is apparently in his second childhood. REFORM DINNER AT ANDOVER.—The Re formers of Andover have invited their members, R. Et wall, Esq., and Lord William Paget, to dine with them on Tuesday, the 17th instant, at the Town-hall, when it is anticipated a numerous and very respectable party Nisi lie 'assembled, and their late glorious victory cele brated in a style worthy the occasion.—kiants Independent. THE LIVERY OF LONDON FOR 1841-2. The following statement exhibits the number of Livery men in the City of London belonging to each Company, as also the aggregate number who are qualified as such to vote for Members of Parliament to represent the said City :—Armourers and braziers, 73 ; apothecaries, 56 ; barbers, 116 ; bakers, 225 ; basketmakers 6 ; black smiths, 94 ; bowycrs, 47 ; brewers, 45 ; brodereurs, 28 ; butchers, 163 ; carpenters, 111 ; clockmakers, 99 ; clothworkers, 123 ; coach and arness makers, 66 ; combmakers, 15 ; cordwainers, 97 ; coopers, 239 ; cooks, 136 ; curriers , 98 ; cutlers, 91 ; distillers, 38 ; drapers, 282 ; dyers, 117 ; fanteakers, 19 ; farriers, 80 ; felt mongers, 83 ; fishmongers, 287 ; fletchers, 18 ; frame work knitters, 44 ; fruiterers, 41 ; founders, 70 ; glass sellers, 58 ; girdlers, 78 ; glaziers, 57 ; glovers, 119 ; goldsmiths, 151 ; gold and silver wire -drawers, 40 ; gun-makers, 29 ; haberdashers, 368 ; innholders, 3G7 ; ironmongers, 79 ; joiners, 116 ; leathersellers, 106 ; loriners, 234 ; playing card makers, 68 ; merchant tailors, 236 ; mercers, 77 ; masons, 42 ; musicians, 79 needlemakers, 332 ; pattenmakers, 115 ; painter stain ers, 111 ; pewterers, 64 ; plasterers, 26 ; plumbers, 50 ; poulterers, 28 ; saddlers, 60 ; salters, 131 ; scriveners, 35 ; shipwrights, 91 ; silk throwsters, 7 ; skinners, 125 ; spectacle makers, 81 ; stationers, 381 ; tallow-chandlers, 117 ; tinplate-workers, 53 ; turners, 63 ; tylers and plasterers, 108 ; vintners, 282 ; upholsterers, 86 wax chandlers, 68 ; weavers, 86 ; weelwrights, 117 ; ward men, 17.—Total, 7,782. N.B. A great number of citi zens have taken up their livery during the present year. The health of Lord Granville has improved con siderably, and hopes are now entertained that he will speedily recover,; but even if the Tories should not come into office, it is probable that he will relinquish his post, in order that he may be able to have the advantage of change of climate. Mr. Bulwer is exceedingly active, and is deservedly a general favourite in the diplomatic circles, as well as at Court, although he is said to have more than once expressed himself with a degree of inde pendence which, in another person, might have given offence. MANCHESTER COPFERENcE.—Since our laat, one hundred elergymeti and ministers, in addition to those whose names we published on Saturday, and mak ing the whole number now three hundred and eighty, tings in have signified their intention to be present at the Confe rence on the Corn-laws, which is to commence its sit- Guardian. n ittnh l er ue t s h-e a the town on Tuesday next.-2lfanchester The City of London and 'rower Hamlets CeTe tery Company have obtained their Act of In,corp(o)r and the ground which is situated in the Mile End-road f t Directors, of September. The Lord M a yor, as one and there be consecrat e d by the Bishop of Londoneettorlyhien the month will attend upon the occasion will be a large assemblage to y eerpmony. " d afternoon an SINGULAR DEATB• M.P., at the Allsop inquest was held before M vi r , .. " road, on view of the body of Arms, Allsop-terrace , Ne who -died suddenly under the Mary English, aged Mrs. Charles, a lady residing; following circumstanee D o rset-square, stated that the de ceasedat 49, Park-streseetr,vant„ and her husband being out Ot was h er during his absence, slept with her. On town she h a d , last, about three o'clock, deceased got Sunday mornin, said, f bed, as out o she sal to get some water to drink, a the mantelpiece. Witness then dozed eful being on and on waking again, and not finding de off to sleep , c eased in bed , she called to her, but receivin g no answer, she rose and procured a light, when she disco vered her lying inside the fender, her feet hanging over the outside of it. She raised an alarm, and a surgeon being sent for, pronounced life to be extinct. There were no bruises or marks of violence on deceased's per son. Witness could not imagine how she got where she was found, as the poker which was on the top of the bars, and projected out, and which, had she fallen, must • have been struck by her in her descent, was not moved. The water had not been touched. She had no reason to suppose that deceased had taken anything to destroy herself. Verdict, " Found dead." SHA K ERISM.—Mr. Carter, a renouncing shaker, visited this place a few weeks since, and gave two or three lectures on Shakerism, and sung some twenty songs, danced, exposed Miller's theory, and did several other things for the amusement of the audience. The Shakers' creed is a very curious one. They believe/11 one God, and two persons in the Godhead—male A nd female, or father and mother—called Power and Wiainni• They believe that Adam was the father of the oNcroa tion t and Eve was the mother, both being created after the image of God ; and that Christ is the father ef the new creation, and Ann Lee the mother, and Oat the mil lenium commenced with the a ypearanee of Ann Lee on earth. They beli e ve in the immortality of animals, as well as of men. They say that John saw horses in the world of spirits, as recorded in Revelations. They believe that all the ugly and vanornous animals on earth are symbolical of the evil spirits that inhabit the lower regions of the invisible world, and that all the beautiful creatures, such as birds with gorgeous plumage, are symbolical of the good spirits in the mansions of bliss. They believe that tae souls of Shakers, in their trances and visions, really visit the heavenly world. The lancet has been applied to them, and their fie.h has been scarified, while in,this state, without producing a parti cle of blood. One person who visited the land of spirits in a trance, saw all the patriarchs and kings of olden ti me ; saw King David travelling, and Solomon on a snow white horse ; saw Christ and all the apostles.— Newburyport Watchtowei. ---..' ?3 'l.-..- -_ - ...e. , .3'4 , ' !•!) • 07 1" ,