The Sun. — London, England, 1839-09-24 00:00:00

EVENING 141DITION. LITERATURE. STANDARD NOVELS.—No. 76. Bentley, London, 1839. We have here Theodore Hook's " Jack Brag" (0 Tit - ised in one volume. We have cast our eyes again over this amusing novel, and feel strongly inchned to p ronounce i t its author's best. True, itis full to overflowing of grotesque improbabilities ; and, in more than one instance, sacrifices truth and accuracy of drawing to broad caricature ; but Its chief personage, John Brag, Esq., who is never long abse nt f rom t h e stage , i s p our trayed with a vigour that never flags ; and a correctness—so far as the l ea di ng features of character are concerned— that all must recoenise who are acquainted with London life. Some of the subordinates, too, are admirably delineated. Such is Mr. Heneage Peck over, the jolly, good-natured, country squire,whose boistero us nature h as b een thoroughly disciplined a nd tamed down by his shrewish wife, who has t aught him to look on her as quite a prodigy of intellect. Here, the author appears to have drawn dieect from the life, for we recognize truth in every lineament. The volume is embellished with two e ngravings, which are just passable, and no more. MANUAL FOR MECHANICS' INSTITU TIONS. Longman, London, 1839. There is much useful information in this little "(Aurae, whose object is to facilitate the establish ment of Mechanics' Institutions, and to improve and extend those already formed. With this view a catalogue of books best suited for such societies 13 drawn up ; and also an outline of a course of te etures•likely to refine the taste, and strengthen the u dgment of the operative classes. In the cata logue, some few works are inserted, which- it would h ave been as well to have omitted—" Defoe's History of the Plague," for instance, which, though Professing to have been written by an eye-witness of this great pestilence, in tar l truth-telling spirit, is, from first to last, a mere fiction, penned m any years after the event. Again, " Ancient His: ory" is a, bad choice, for every ordi nary scholar knows that it abounds in blunders ; that the Most erroneous and superficial views are taken of . 6 aracter ; and that the spirit that pervades the work is ghat of anile twaddling. " Knox 's Essays," too, is no means a good selection. The Doctor, to say the best of him, was but a solemn flirt in litera ture,' who enunciated thread-bare common-places with an air of the most ludicrous pretensions. His Maudlin rhapsodies about Chatterton are quite " Clarendon" is a capital choice, and We are ;leaved with the liberality that dictated it. `` Francis's Translation of Horace" may pass for w ant of a better ; but the version is sadly tame a nd prosaic. Of Cobbett's works we should have b een glad to have seen a larger collection, if only for his healthy and vigorous style, which is drawn " fro m t h e pure well of English undefiled," and therefore admirably calculated to improve the tastes of our mechanics. We urge these few hasty re marks in the best possible spirit ; for we have ever beep foremost . iu advocating the utility, and assist ing the spread of Mechanics' Institutions. Well ordered and regulated, they cannot fail to be of essential benefit to the community. Yet a few years, and a whole generation will have sprung up, acted on by their generous and humanizing in fluence ; and when this shall have taken place, what grand, comprehensive, national improvements, social and political, may we not expect ? Poor Toryism—which, by the bye, is but another word for, ignorance and bigotry l—its ultimate destiny was sealed when the first stone of the first Me elinics' Institution was laid in the metropolis. MODERN FRENCH LITERATURE. 2 Vols. .Henderson, London, 1839. A shallow, vapid work got up in the most ap proved book-making spirit. There is little in the fictitious literature of modern France worthy of elabor ate notice, yet these volumes are made up of nothing else. We have specimens after specimens of the absurd monstrosities of George Sand, Victor Rug°, and the writers of that class—whose occa- Venal flashes of genius only serve to shed a b roader en on their glaring moral deformities—and of : t h L 6 se specimens we have scarcely met with one ! t wit is entitled to a better character than that of e xaggerated common-place. TALES OF MANY LANDS. Harvey and Darton, London, 1839. This is a pleasantly written little volume, con taining a variety of short, interesting tales, well tiuited to the tastes of young readers of both sexes. It is ornamented with several wood -cuts, and is got lip with much elegance. !CITY REGISTRATIOis-MONDAY Before Mr. CRAIG. THE TEMPLE LIST. —The lists for the parish of St. Dunstan in the West haying been handed in, an objec .•ti°n was taken by Mr. Trott to the recept ion of the p envie list, on the ground of its being improperly ' " ded. The overseers' list was headed, " The list of : f er , lons entitled to vote in the election o f four Members the City of London, in respect of property occupied twithi n filo parishunstan in the West." The T ex , t• , • Pie list wnieh was addressed to the overseers, was heeded in ti:e following manner :—" The following person s claim to have their names inserted on the list of Pe rsons entitled t:? vote in the election of Members of orn ament for the City of London." A short discussion took place on the subject, when Air. CRAIG said lie would strike out the words at the 'lead as an improper interposition, and then receive the list. We understand that Major G. D. Hall, formerly of the Royal Staff Corps, and Lxte Assistant Quartermaster General in Canada, is about to return to that country as Military Secretary to the Governor-General of North America. He is to set sail in the Liverpool steam-vessel ' .or New York this day. We are glad to find that Mr. Poulett Thomson will have the advantage of so able and experienced an adviser cu matters of which he can have so 1 slender a knowledge himself.—United Service Gazette. STEAM EXPLOSION.—On Thursday morning a tremendous expi3sion took place at the fixed eogine of the Sunderland [hid Durham Railway on Surnaerland Moor. Without any indication being manifested, orie of the boilers, upwaids of five tons weight, blew up and burst, or rathe r broke asunder. The body of the boiler, which is computed to be upwards of four tons weight, was car ried to the incredible distance of eighty yards and two feet. The hailer-house (a stone building) was torn to pieces, ,am . i part o f th e eng i ne -h ouse wa ll, which adjoined the bailer-house, was torn down. Two of the firemen, named - Bewick He 1e and Terence Flinn, were severely scalded ; the latte r was f urt h er i n j ure d by p ar t o f the materials i a iling upon him; his recovery is very doubtful. Fortu nately no other person was injured. The boiler had only been in use three years. The accident is said to have been caused by the injurious effects of salt water upon the iron. TRICKS or THE MARQUIS OF WATERFORD. \ --During the tournament festivals, the Noble Marquis )I took o ccas i on now an d aga i n to s teal away from his Peers. and indulge his humour in pranks. The following anecdote of him, we are assured, is authentic. Dressed in the garb of a sail or h e stro ll e d on Thursday night into a baker's shop in Irvine, and, in compliance with his request, the ihalc,r showed him some flour. " Flour 1" said the Marquis, " is that flour ?" The reply was in the affirm ' ati,e. .. Flour 1" roared the Marquis, with an oath, " infernal ground bones, you scoundrel I—lt was you, and such as you, that brought the cholera into this country." Whereupon the Marquis, seizing a hand ful, threw it ioto the Laker's eyes, and seizing him by the throat, threatenod to annihilate him. The baker was con founded and nigh dead with fright, when his wife bounced upon the Marquis,sv ho threw a handful of flour'into her face , also, and bolted. The grey mare was the better horse, however, and determined not to let the intruder off in that 1 manner ; so out she sallied with a face as white as the siriven snow, giving vent to a string of complimentary epithets. The Marquis at last turned back, and whis perine• to the baker's wife . that her husband was d e li r i ous , a 'lipped a five-pound note into her hand, to purchase a st, •ait.waiscoat for him.—.elyr . Advertiser. NIN k IAL MAGNETISNI. — Baron Dupotet, who • ; was ,'or some time in London performing experiments in anim a l magnetism, is now here, and gives a p u bli c exhi b;tion o His last . 'xpmyerimerx, succes s f u l, f magnett& patients every Friday at the Ath enee of s i m p y e r ri l m , ‘a e , rits, at w hich I was present, were p ia n o e t s y s er o y . f. , ing the inlet, l nd he attributed his failure to the dam the weath er , girls which, he says, has a great effect in diminish shy of the fluid. The celebrated magnetic whose power was said to be so g reat that the fl u id ill passing from one to the other would suspe n d i n the R IC a large mahogany with a good s 0 table placed be tween them, t ut fellow sitting upon it, i are said in the MarseiL'es journals to have had the force similar cause. Opi nion is 1 of th e fl u i d diminishe d .`)Y a si • much divided herons to the whole, it is rather making co. M. Defer, a physician of Metz, medical men. truth of this science but, on the co=verts publishedamong ou n t witch of some experiments which are ,t.ias just - more e xtraordinary nace first covered with ‘ than any of those shown by Dr. Elliotson in London, for he . .declares that the eyes of his patient were i dk'achylar plaster and then bandaged, yet s and walk 1 covld read letters in the dark, play at dominoes, and. that she in 0,, e streets with as great ease as without a bandage in. broad daylight. He states also, that when in a magnetised state, t.. 4,0 strongest shock of electricity nad no effect upon i her. '1 'he most wonderful part of M. Defers pamphlet is 1 the attest ation of about forty of the most eminent scientifict.st men in M.etz, who not only attest their having \ he relates, ;rut having submitted every part of toe pro ~ to all the ri , c. ‘x.roua proofs which the most incredulous rush seen, all c h aos could have desired. It is very s trange that the q uestion cannot be set at last one w a y or the other. It is a nlystery now which puzzles the wisest, and at the same time d i. s not exclude the practicahi h making 2 , f it, d nag. —Letter ' J ram Paris. .~ 1 1 i~l 4 CORN-LAWS. (Extract from Sir James Graham's Speech at the meet ing of the Netherby Agricultural Association, on the 17th insrant.) We have met together under various circum stances, and on many trying occasions. Sometimes you have partaken of my exultation on success, and on other occasions you have met me to console me under defeat ; but whether we have met under cir cumstances of prosperity or adversity this common tie has always united us—your prosperity is my prosperity, and your adversity is my adversity. At the present moment there is a most abundant crop upon the ground, but there is a great difficulty in securing it. I do not wish to moralise, but I should not be doing justice to my own feelings if I failed to draw your attention for a few moments to the awful circumstances in which we may possibly be placed. It is always my wish to exclude politics from this .meeting, because I think they are the bane of Associations of this nature, and I trust that the tone of the remarks I am about to offer will not subject me to the charge of infringing the rule, which I profess a desire to have observed. I must declare, that I have heard with the deep est regret sentiments of extreme violence ut tered lately in many parts of the coun try. A declaration was made of an intention to hold what was called a " sacred month," during which all labour was to be suspended. The time chosen for the execution of this project was the commencement of harvest, for the avowed purpose of defeating the bounty of Providence. Let me, my, friends, call your attention to this remarkable circumstance—never, perhaps, was there a year of greater promise than the present. I have travelled through the greater part of England and the South of Scotland, and never did I see more abundant crops on the ground. The declaration against working has been rescinded—the cultivator of the soil no longer fears that his crops will spoil for want of reapers—the foolish and wicked decree of man has prevailed not. But mark the stern decree of Providence. The crops are plenteous—the sickle is prepared, and the reapers are willing to work, but the elements prevent them from gathering in the ripened harvest. This is n. striking, an awful warning ! I hope that irreparable injury is not yet done to the crops. I hope that the hand which can destroy as well as give increase may yet be stayed, but I have felt it my duty to avail myself of this opportunity of directing your attention to con siderations which have weighed heavily with me. I look upon the present state of the harvest as a striking warning which I hope will not be thrown away upon the people of this country.—(Hear, hear.) There is another circumstance connected with this topic which I cannot altogether overlook. It is frequently urged that the maintenance of our domestic agriculture is a landlord's and not a te nant's question. I have always endeavoured in the face of those who are the most powerful advocates of that opinion to combat it.—(Cheers.) It is a mistake to suppose that a tenant would take land with the intention of being a permanent occupier of it without expending, on the faith of his con fidence in the landlord, a large amount of private capital. It is in vain to say that the farmers might withdraw their capital from the land and embark it in other kinds of business. The capital sunk in agriculture cannot be withdrawn from it, the more particularly at a moment when the very existence of domestic agriculture was threatened. What farmer would lay out his capital on a farm if lie believed his landlord would eject him from it at the end of two or three years ? And in like man ner who would be found to give a fair equivalent for the capital invested in land if the Legislature should pass an Act which would diminish the value of the land's produce one-half ?—( Hear, hear.) If by a rash and sudden act of the Legislature all protec tion should be withdrawn from the cultivators of the soil, and this great community rendered dependent on a supply of foreign grain, certain ruin would await the great body of landlords, but their ruin would be insignificant in point of numbers and wealth compared with that which would fall upon the mass of the occupiers of the soil, and not upon them alone, but upon the agricultural labourers. —(Loud cheers.) You all know by practical expe rience how small a proportion rent bears to the out goings necessary in the cultivation of land.—(Hear, hear, hear.) The larger portion of those out going is expended in labour. Think what would become of those immediately dependent on the cultivatOrs of the soil, if by a rash and sudden alteration of the law you should be compelled to cease employing them. A convulsion of the whole social system would ensue if an immense number of agricultural labourers should be thrown into the market for manufacturing labour, thereby reducing, the wages of those workmen now exclusively oc cupied in that description of labour. Those who desired to try the experiment of depending upon a supply of foreign grain, have, to a certain extent, had their wish gratified. Last year there had been a great demand for foreign grain owing to the deficiency of home produce. The people of this country have, by immense exertions, been able to import, in the course of the last year, a larger quan tity of foreign corn than has ever been imported in any previous year. I fear that in the pre sent year a deficiency of the home produce will occur and again occasion a great demand for foreign corn. Under these circumstances, therefore, those who like the experiment to which I have just alluded will have seen it tried upon a large scale. I fear that it will be found to be by no means con sistent with national prosperity. But it may be said this is a sudden demand, and that a different effect would follow if the demand were constant and per petual. We cannot command a series of seasons of abundance in this country. We know by fatal ex perience that we have constantly two or three seasons together of an adverse character. Suppose that, foreign corn being admitted, a much smaller quan tity was grown in this country (as would certainly be the case), and that a succession of bad seasons should render us wholly dependent on foreign supply, what would be the situation of our immense popu lation of twenty-four millions crowded into the space of two narrow islands, and looking for the supply of their daily bread, not only to Europe, but to al; parts of the world ?—(Hear, hear.) I believe that the whole civilized world would be inadequate to meet the extraordinary demand which would arise under such circumstances, and that history could afford no parallel to the scene of distress —to the strife of angry passions, which would be called into play when twenty-four millions of people, confined within our narrow limits, should be reduced to the extremity of want and actual famine.—(Cheers.) My strong impression, therefore, is, that to domestic agriculture we must look for security against horrors which I cannot depict, but which must occur to every one as the necessary result of a real famine being experienced in these islands. Such being my opinions, I have always, since I entered into public life, both from inclination and duty, done my utmost to favour domestic agriculture in every possible man ner, and to defend it from all assaults.—(Loud cheers.) These are my general opinions, and I have been aided by you in giving practical effects to them. I have had other objects of ambition which at times call me far away from you ; but to my native estate—to my own home—l always re turn with the most heartfelt joy. My chief plea sure is to improve the estate I have inherited, and in doing so I am certainly materially assisted by the most industrious, the most true-spirited, and most honest body of cultivators of the soil it has ever been my happiness to be acquainted with. Sift,—The Corn•law humbug, out to TO THE-I--1-'IDITO OF 1 p T7 cl E evi:ue S l y sa N :kb . , a s a be revived ; be it so. But how, with practical man, and one deeply on this as on views and feelings of the working - classes. conversant the suc ceed without their (the working-classes) co-operation.. most other political questions, is the agitationto It cannot ; common sense declares it to be i mpnss . ib n le , . , Very well. "T o be, or not to be, that's the question.` s ._ Will the working-classes assist in any way the agitator ? Will they attend their meetings, or append their names to their petitions? I say no—emphatically no ; and I say it from a deep knowledge of the fact, having com municated with nearly all the principal towns on th(!, subject. This being the case, what is to be done That the approaching winter will be one of extreur distress there cal be little doubt. What, then, 1 repeat, is to be done ? Are we to have revolution (for rest assured the people will have that or bri-ad), or (as grant Heaven we may!) Justic.•.? "Ye who toil tint, neither do you spin," answer —watch? I have already stated that I am deeply conversant with the views and feelings of the working-classes on this as on most other political questions, and that I am decidedly of opinion that they will not assist, but rather (I wou ld a d d) retard the progress of the agitation. They cannot (neither can I) see of what earth l y advanta g e it w ould be to cheapened by a n abolition of the " devil's laws, all 1) admit , but would them. That proviions would', not that circumstance be the means of causing a re duction in the price of labour in the same ratio ? Most decidedly it would ; political economists' assertions to the contrary, notwithstanding. This being the case, and believing there exist greater abuses to be re moved, and which can only be done by a Parliament (f and for the people—that is, the people proper, the " swinish multitude," as in Court phraseology they are termed, they by whose sweat landlords batten and masters (hated name!) become insolent, will never lend a hand to such a barefaced, O'Connell-like fraud. Arundel Coffee-house. PUBLIUS. PRESBYTERY of AUCHTERARDER AUCHTERARDER CASE.- The sentence of the Com mission was read and recorded. Some conversation took place about the duty of the Presbytery in present circumstances. One member moved that, in con formity with the sentence of the Commission, the Pres bytery do now refuse the prayer of the memorial of the Earl of Kinnoull and Mr. Robert Young, requesting them to take Mr. Young on trial, in obedience to the decrees of the Court of Session. He said that it was the Presbytery of Auchterarder, not the Commis sion of the General Assembly, that were the parties in the civil action ; that the Presbytery ought and must give some deliverance on the memorial ; that as no other deliverance than a refusal can be given, the sooner the opposite party have our answer the better, so that we may know what course they may be advised to pur sue, and that the present collision may as soon as pos sible be terminated. He thought th►s course more direct, and manly, and honest, than .i mere evasive de lay. Another member opposed this motion ; he saw no necessity for taking this step, unless the Presbytery were driven to it. Hitherto the Presbytery had done nothing in opposition to Mr. Young, except in direct obedience to orders from the General Assembly. He thought it important to continue the same course, espe cially with the prospect before them of an action of damages, or of imprisonment, and would prefer simply to leave the memorial on the table. The other member said he would not press his motion at this meeting in opposition to the views of one he so highly esteemed. It was agreed to allow the opposite party full extracts of all the proceedings in the Presbytery. pllO SUN, iLONDON. TITESDAV, SEPTEMI3ER 24, 1839. CHURCH EXTENSION SCHOOLS We have received the following communication from a correspondent :—Much has been said, of late, of Church Building Societies and School Building Societies, and in so far as Glasgow is concerned much has been done, and is still doing, in the erection of such edifices. Some are completed, and, on the faith of Dr. Chalmers's promises, people anticipated that they would obtain education for their children in them for little or nothing. But how has it turned out ? The Bridgton church and school and steeple were liberally subscribed for by the inhabitants, both Churchmen and Dissenters. The church and school are both finished ; the steeple is left in the lurch. Well, a subscriber sent five of his childre❑ to the school—paying 3s. per month for each—and naturally expected that, after all his zeal, he would be rewarded by attention being paid to them. At the end of six weeks he felt disappointed at the small progress they had n.ade, and on inquiry found that three out of the five had never received a lesson from the Church Extension teacher—that the other two Lad received only three or four lessons, having been employed after this instruction, in teaching their younger brothers and others. The father has taken the whole five away, and put them under the charge of a voluntary teacher, who personally gives each pupil five lessons a day, and charges only 2s. a quarter. It thus appears, adds our corre spondent, that the public may be gulled out of their money by other than Radicals. I will give you the name of the gentleman who has been thus treated, and you may give it to any person who calls for it.--Glas gow Chronicle. THE CONVENTION. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. HENRY-STREET, HAMPSTEAD-ROAD, SEPT. 19. Sir,—The Sun being the most liberal of the daily papers, and, as such, the most extensively read amongst the great body of Democrats, or Chartists, permit me, as a working man, and as one belonging to that numo rous party, to ask them, through its columns, whether they mean to elect another Convention ; and if so, whether they think the late delegates fit to be elected again ? I, for one, unhesitatingly say that, with few exceptions, they are not. For why ? 1 will tell you. Because, in the first place, they have most basely de ceived us as regards the numbers that were prepared practically to demand the Charter. Who has not heard their boastings of their hundreds of thousands ready to take the Charter by brute force if it were not immediately granted ? Who has not heard them boast of the thousands that were determined to shed the last drop of their blood rather than see a Member of the Con vention imprisoned ? I myself heard a Birmingham Delegate say (at a meeting at the Archery-rooms, New road, St. Pancras), that there were fifty thousand men organized and armed, in the district of Birmingham, that could be brought together in one hour; and that they alone were determined to have the Charter, even if no one else would help them : and as for one being put into a prison, why it was monstrous to think of it. Rather than that should be, said he, every prison should be razed to the ground. But yet, after these declara tions, who does not know that two of the noblest of patriots are now lingering in a dungeon at that very place, because one of them called the conduct of the policemen " bloody and unconstitutional," when he saw them knocking people down for being at a peaceful meeting ; and yet scarce a voice, let alone an arm, is raised to resist it f Who has not heard of a Delegate declaring that there were 100,000 armed men in the district of Ashton, and yet that very Delegate who de clared it is now in a prison. Who has not heard of the tens of thousands, in Yorkshire, whom Bussey and O'Connor represent? Who has not heard of the mighty masses in and about Manchester that were de termined to have the Charter ?—The Kersal Moor meeting to wit. Who has not heard of the warlike declarations of a Dr. Taylor, and of Harney and his men marching up to London ? And who does not know that Mr. F. O'Connor is the greatest political that ever existed? Why he actually told the men in Scotland, when on his recent tour there, that he at tended a meeting on Kennington-common on the first of the three sacred days, where, says he," there were one hundred thousand who were determined on having the Charter, "when Iwell know that,at the most, there were net more than from ten to twelve thousand. But this man seems so fond of exaggeration that nothing seems amiss to him. I might adduce other instances to show the unfitness of a large portion of the late Delegates, or in other words, to show that they are not to be trusted ; but, as you must know these things as well as myself, it is perfectly useless. The financial department might be commented upon, as there is a considerable degree of suspicion at tached to it—a suspicion fully borne out by the Report in the Northern Star of last Sunday week. But I need say no more ; enough, I am sure, is known by us all so as to guide us better for the future. Our plan of action wtll, I hope, be something like the following :—that the Convention shall consist of at least two hundred mem- tiers, each member to represent 5,000, at least, of or ganized and payable members. This would be better than a petition of two million signatures, because half who sign their names care nothing about it, and in some cases know not what it is for. But a Convention with a million of organized men would be able to do something, for this reason, because it would represent nearly twice as many as the present House of Com mons. Therefore agitate and organize ; get a million as I have stated and you are free! And to effect this, direct the whole of your energies to the dissemination of political knowledge, by means of lectures, discussions, and giving away tracts. Sir, I apologise for thus intruding upon your time ; its insertion 1 can scarce expect, because it is so un grammatical. But, how can it be otherwise, when from my childhood I have worked from 12 to 15 hours per day? and still continue to do so now ; and when I am not able to do that any longer, my only prospect is to end a miserable existence in some Yoor•law Union, with the degraded name of a pauper. This is my only pros pect, except the " Charter" be made to become the law of the land ; the effect of Which, according to my op i• nion, will be to better the condition of the working peo ple, at the expense of those who do nothing, (or at least nothing useful to society), but yet are so immensely rich. And will not this be just? Yes, for most as suredly the great Creator who created the mighty universe, and filled this, our earth, w;,th plenty, never intended that some should live in idleness, luxury, and splendour, whilst others should toil frons morn till night, and from year to year, withotit getting many of the common necessaries of life. No, no, such a state of society was never intended, although the Bishops and rich Parsons would fain make us believe as much. In conclusion, allow rue to say, that I shall feel most grateful if you can possibly insert this, because I entertain an idea, that it will do some little good to the parties for whom it was intended. Respectfully, &c. E. HARRISSON. THE NEW AND POPULAR WORKS OF Ftc- TioN, just published by Mr. Colburn, 13, Great Ma:ibr,- raugh-street, and to be had at all the libraries :.-1. Little Pedlington and the Pedlingtonians, by John Poole, Esq. 2. Morton of Morton's Hope. an Autobiography. 3. Temptation; or, A Wife's Perils. 4, The Phantom Ship, by Capt. Marryat. 5. Gurney Married, by Theo dore Hook, Esq. 6. The Only Daughter, edited by the oi C nf r f..; ,t ri hr rn iivi e a rte ia,f•e,b Talc.y neighbourhood, Author of " The Subaltern." 7. The Lion ; a Tale of the Coteries. 8. Fair Rosamond, by the Author of ' Royston Gower." 9. The Youth of Shakspeare, by the Author of " Shakspeare and his Friends." 10. The Also, just ready -12. The Romance Ban i s h e d, edited by the Author of " 1-lajji Elha," 11. arid we have been glad to hear has been brought to a close fis N i l l i e ss ry ßurney. productive one to the fisherman.—New -1 castle that r i i iti Chronicle. v i z i).leobrnerieicllng.a THE WEATHER AND THE CORN- LAWS. The heavens rain repeal—the Corn-laws will be washed away ! A nervous anxiety agitates every bosom ; be he landlord or farmer, agriculturist or tradesman, master or labourer, the first greeting a man gives to his neighbour is " What melancholy weather—what will be the consequences I flow shall we get over the winter !" And justly indeed may there be dismay.—Somerset County Gazette. We have not yet learned what course the work ing men of Bolton mean to adopt this winter, as it regards the Anti-Corn-law movemen t ; but we trust they will not allow themselves to be so far misled as they were formerly. We observe that at a late meeting of the Bolton Working Men's As sociation, a vote of thanks was given to Mr. Car penter, editor of the Charter, for his services as delegate for Bolton to the . General Convention. As they appear to have confidence in him, let them follow his advice on this point. He says, in his journal, that the course which the Chartists took last year, in opposition to the Corn-law Repealers, was most unwise ; and he advis es them to adopt a different line of policy in future. We still repeat, what we have argued all along, that by joining with the middle classes, the working men may carry almost any measure : by standing aloof, they can do nothing.—Bolton Free Press. Nineteen-twentieths of the whole Press of England is doing its best to conceal and palliate the state of the wheat crops and the results of the harvest in general. This harvest of 1839 will turn out very dt:ficient. No part of the kin g d om h as ' e scaped the effect of the rains that have fallen duriiig the last two months, and sound corn will, ere long, be found to be a scarce and dreadfully dear article. The yield is also expected to be very bad, even where the grain has been most favourably circumstanced ; such has been the want of sun. In the six Northern English counties and in Scotland, we firmly believe that a part of the grain will not ripen at all—and that a large portion will be seen to have been much damaged. Whether the veracious Journals of this part of the country will mention the effects of the recent storm of rain, we do not know ; but we can state, on our own knowledge, that the injury done must have been great. The quantity of water that fell in this immediate neigh bourhood must have been prodigious. The Tyne came down so rapidly it completely beat back the tide. In the Tweed, the Coquet, and the Wang beak, the water rose higher than it has done for many years ; and besides corn being swept away, sheep, cattle, and horses, were drowned in great numbers. To suppose after the experience of last year, which was fair compared with this yea:, the crops can be otherwise than deficient, seems to us the height of infatuation. Few or none do spontane ously think this ; but many are deceivers, and . many wish to be deceived ; and it in order that truth may have fair play that we make this counter statement. By the way, some fools are drawing comfort even from bad corn, thinking the badness will keep down the average. They forget that in proportion as the good corn is scarce it will be dear. —Northern Liberator. Thanks to the working of the abominable Corn laws, the people of this country are, in all proba bility, about to be subjected to new miseries inad dition to th o s e whi c h they are already enduring. For the last twelve months, while wages have re mained stationary, they have been compelled to buy their bread at almost a famine price. The great bulk, therefore, of the working classes have just been able to exist, and nothing more. But we fear that they have only escaped famine to be the victims of plague and pestilence. The bad weather which has prevailed during this year's harvest, has had the effect of forcing up fair samples of grain to a price far above the reach of the poor, while the quantity of damaged corn brought i n t o t h e mar k et w ill k eep down the averages so that no relief can be obtained from abroad. The consequence will be, that the working classes will have to live upon the damaged and un wholesome food which will be so abundant in the country until the harvest of 1840. Bread will be scarce, but fevers and sicknesses of every other kind will be in plenty. The poor will suffer, but landlords and doctors will flourish. From some districts such accounts of the health of the people already reach us. But then, we are told, "It is the weather." Meagre and poor diet, and bad food, the offspring of the starvation laws, have nothing at all to do with it. It is the weather-0 ! yes ! it .s the weather altogether.—Liverpool Chronicle. Since our last notice the rain has poured in tor rents almost incessantly by day and night . ; the con sequence is that the whole country is inundated. The barley crops are in a most deplorable state ; about half is cut, and the other half will quickly spoil unless it be speedily mown. In the backward districts there is still much wheat not gathered, and it has of course been seriously injured. Hop-pick ing has become general ; the hop is mostly large, but it is not matured, and nearly every where the hops are " tagged," so that in colour and quality they must fail. It is feared that the continued tains have damaged the potatoes very considerably; the soil is so saturated with water, that if we have not two or three weeks of dry weather the potatoes will rot in the ground. An agricultural correspondent has sent ua the following gloomy picture :—" Never was there a time more distressing to the farmer than the present week has been ; the unhoused wheats, and indeed the uncut wheats, have grown the length of one's finger within the last few days ; barley, oats, peas, and vetches, are sharing the same fate, and cannot be turned to any account except for ma: nure ; a very great portion of the hops are mine(' by the wet, cold, ungenial weather, and in many places will not pay for picking, as they will neither possess colour, quality, nor condition this year, and they continue to get worse and worse every day.”— Hereford Journal. We regret to have the unuleasant task of record ing such a continuance of heavy rains, that in the month of September, floods upon the Kennet and Loddon have swept away crops of aftermath, and on the former river have quite impeded the naviga tion. At Shalford several loads of oats belonging to the Ea.l of Falmouth were swept away by the flood. But the most serious damage is sustained by the crops of oats, barley, and beans, vast numbers of acres of which are (cut and uncut) receiving irre parable injury : this is particularly the case near Windsor, and in the northern part of Wiltshire. We have only a faint hope of change, the full moon and equinox occur on the 23d inst.; high dryinc , winds might, as heretofore, set in. Last ye ar, an ti in the previous summer, there was a scarcity of water on high lands, and this continued till the month of November.—Reading Mercury. We regret to say that the heavy rains of the past week have entirely suspended all operations in the fields. The wheat crop has been, generally speak ing, got together in c apital condition ; but it has not yielded so well as could be wished. A great deal of barley still remains out, the bulk of which unfortunately is on the ground, and let us have ever so fine weather, it is feared the damage cannot be retrieved. Barley is looking up, and the holders of last year's samples will dispose of the remaining part of their stock to great advantage.---(From Winchester Correspondent.) WALES.—In this part of the kingdom, we have had scarcely a day that could be considered favour able for harvest operation T s o for ad t d he to las t t hi t s hr d e e e p weeks. and the wheat crops in conse q uence has suffered beyond calculation , in some situations, we fear , completely destroyed. prospect, there appears at present not to be the slightest indication of a favourable change in the weather.—Cambrian. With the exception of the wh eat crop, w hi c h t ry there il a was a b s u the gettingin, the harvestcoun try of this yeal. Even the wheat has suffered mu c h f rom th e frosts at the close of the spring and b eg i nn i ng o f summer, and the grain, though not d e f ect i ve i n assuredlysqiulrainvteilti)er,d.is\\yeilave read i with s 0 ' much surprise in the Dorset Chronicle —a pap er i n which it is not usual quality being to find inaccuracies—a stat e ment under the head of l nipt and " Salisbury," to the effect that " one gentleman, in the neighbourhood of this city, has crops to the value of 1,500/. in barley and oats irrevocably ruined." We have made diligent inquiry on the subject, but without being able to find, even amongst gentlemen who have the best means of in• formation on agricultural subjects, any one who was in the slightest degroe aware of a loss Which, from its extent, must, we should think, have been generally known, had the: fact been as stated.—Sa lisbury Herald. Very great anxiety prevails in our district, as to the fate of the harvest. High priced provisions, stinted employment, and in many cases no work at all, increasing local taxes as a natural consequence of additional pauperism, make us look towards the coming winter with fearful apprehension. Since our last, the rain has fallen almost incessantly. Not a single day has passed without heavy and most distressing showers. The works on the Bolton . - and Preston Railway have been much retarded by the water, and out-door labourers are on the verge of starvation. Portions of grain cut three weeks ago remain unhoused, and probably will be unfit for food either for man or beast.—Bolton Free Press. The harvest in this neighbourhood (Newport) is very late, with the exception of wheat, which is in general well secured, with a full average crop. The barley and oats are very abundant, but at this pre sent time in apparently a ruined state, the continual rain for the last three weeks affording the farmer no chance of securing any, without incessantly turning the swaths ; and, indeed, unless the weather clear up, it will be of very little use, except for grinding. There are some pieces of meadow hay, and a second crop of clover, not hauled, which will be carted to the dung heap. The turnip crop looks well, and free from mildew, but they want warm weather to increase them in size. Potatoes will prove a good crop.—Merlin. In the neighbourhood of Lancaster the weather still continues very showery and changeable. A large quantity of grain is cut, which cannot be housed on account of the wetness of the season. The consequence is that a great part of it, and more especially the wheat, is sustaining permanent inj ur y .—Kendal Nercury. We have had another week of very unfavourable weather for the harvest, the consequence is that a great portion of the wheat is spoiled in this neigh bourhood. The potato crop, which promised to be abundant, will turn out a failure, the rain having damaged them beyond recovery, in the clay lands. An immense quantity of potatoes of an excellent kind, grown on the light sands of Scarisbrick, La thorn, &c., are now in the progress of being got up and brought to the Manchester market. As many as 15,000 bushels were passed along the canal last week, and 10,000 the previous week. Fears are entertained, that in addition to the badness of bread and a scarcity, we shall also have a scarcity of pota toes before another crop.— Wigan Paper. Very little has yet been done in harvesting ope rations in this district. Oats, the principal grain grown, are full upon the ground, and excepting such as have been lodged for some length of time, are likely upon the more forward soils to be a good yield. The high moorland crops are again very late, and the succession of bad harvests will be severely felt by the small farmers. There was not much wheat sown for this year's crop, and most of it will be very late. The heavy rains of the last fortnight will not have injured our crops so much as if they had been in a more forward state. Some little hay is yet out on the moor edge farms, which is shockingly spoiled. Potatoes, were not deficient the spring, are looking pretty well, but are sadly overrun with weeds.—Halifax Express. The weather, since our last, with the exception of the last two days, has been extremely unfavour able. The falls of rain on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, in particular, were heavy. Some of the wheat in the vicinity has been housed ; much, however, still remains exposed to the rains. In the distance between this town and Doncaster, a very large portion of the corn remains in the fields. in the immediate neighbourhood of Doncaster, hun dreds of acres of land were under water on Tues day, and, judging from appearance, the floods on the previous days must have been very extensive. —liiakt:field Paper. The harvest in our neighbourhood was resumed on Wednesday, having been interrupted by the heavy rair.s of Saturday and Sunday. On that day the demand for shearers was very great, and conse quently the parties who attended for hire at the gate got high wages-3s. 6d. and some as high as 4s. each. The weather, with - the exception of some heavy, but, we believe, partial showers during Wednesday night, has continued dry, and the farmers have busily improved the opportunity. Yesterday and to-day the number of reapers seek ing hire were greater than on Wednesday, and the wages have fallen-2s. 6d. and 2s. being readily accepted. The crops everywhere are much beaten down, which causes the work of reaping to be very laborious. In many fields the green weeds are sprouting at the roots of the corn; but if the weather continue fair, the crop will be cut down before these reach the height of the sickle, and thus escape be ing gathered with the grain.--Berwick Advertiser. We have had two or three comparatively fine days since our last : but there has been a decided preponderance of wet. The crops are, in many places, fast becoming fit for cutting ; but the ope rations of the reaper have been subjected to great interruption by the changes in the weather. The demand for shearers has been very great, and wages are consequently high. In this neighbourhood, they have varied from 2s. 6d. to 3s. per day ; but in some of the southern parts of the county we have heard of as much as 4s. to 4s. 6d. being given.— Durham Chronicle. The weather during the past week has been ex ceedingly unpropitious, and harvest operations have consequently been very much retarded. We have never seen the farmers more desponding than on Thurday last. The quantity of grain put in is so small as scarcely to be worth notice, and even it was in very bad condition. A very great deal of the uncut grain is laid by the heavy rains, and much of it, especially wheat, is rapidly springing. Even in some cases where wheat is growing perfectly upright. this springing is observable. The oats are, from the same cause, also injured, but not to the same degree. One farmer tells us that since harvest commenced, there have been only two days that his reapers were employed from morning to night, and these were showery. Even should the weather immediately become fa:•ourable, a great deal of wheat will be injured to a very serious de gree. In some of the higher districts of the coun try the sickle has not yet been put in. On the whole, our harvest prospects are deeply tinged with gloom.—Paisley Advertiser. THE LATE FLOODS.—The Papers from Scot land are filled with details connected with the late floods and dreadful storm already noticed in The Sun. The damage done is considerable. The crops have, of course, suffered severely. In some places they are so lodged as to render their recovery almost hopeless. On the whole, the effects of the storm, although sufficiently discouraging to the farmer, have not been marked by that wide spreatJ, and appaling desolation which attended the great flood of 1829. It is a matter of thankfulness, too, that no loss of human life, so far as we have yet learned, has occurred. PRESBYTERIAL VISITATION.—The Presb tery of Arbroath aopeinted Wednesday the 30th October for the purpose of. visiting Lady Loan, in terms of the re c'nt resolutions on this subject. A similar visitation will be held, at Carmylie, on the 20th of November. The clerk was instructed to give a month's previous notice to ministers, who were required to give seven days' previous notice to their congregations, Mr. Muir of St. Vigean's said that he did not mean to make any motion on the sub ject; but he begged to enter his dissent, because no spe cific reason had been assigned for the course which was meant t ) be adopted, and because it was altogether foreign to the general practice of the Church. Mr. Muir's dis sent %;1/3 a•ihered to by Messrs Walker of Kinuell, Car • ruthers of Kirkden, and Barclay of Lunan. The sea, it is said, is encroaching upon every part of the Cornish coast. In the memory of mauy persons still living, or but lately dead, the cricketers were unable to throw a ball across the " Western Green" between Penzance and Newlyn, which is now not many feet in breadth, and the grandfather of the late Vicar of Madron is known te have received tithes from the land under the cliff of Penzance. At a very remote period, we are assured by tradition, that a considerable part of the present bay, especially that comprehended within a line drawn from near Cudden point on the east side, to Mousehole on the west, was land covered with wood, but which, by an awful convulsion and irruption 'of the sea, was suddenly swept away. There is a letter extant, written in the reign of Charles 11. to the then proprietor of an estate, which included part of the " Western Green," and that part is there estimated at thirty. six acres pasturage.—Penzance Gazette. DOVER, SUNDAY, SEPT. 22.--By the return of her Majesty's packet Ariel last evening from Ostend, we learn that their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians arrived at Ostend on Friday evening, about half past nine, and were received at the landing place by the Commandant and a military guard. The King and Queen bad left Windsor Castle about five o'clock on Friday morning, and embarked un board the Ariel, Captain Smithett, accompanied by Captain Hamilton, at Woolwich, at a quarter before nine, and had a most expeditious and excellent passage. The Royal party did not suffer from the effects of the voyage, and were pleased to e xpress in the highest terms to Captains Hamilton and Smithett their satisfaction at the very great attention they received on board the Ariel. The King was to be present at the opening of the railway at Courtray on Sunday, and on ' Monday the whole of the Court was expected to take their , departure from Ostend. TRADE WITH CHINA. PUBLIC NOTICE TO HER BRITANNIC AIA- JESTY'S SUBJECTS. The disregard of formal offers upon the part of her Majesty's officer to adjust all difficulties by the fulfil ment of the imperial will, the unjustifiable imprison ment of the whole foreign community in Canton, the still more wanton protraction of that captivity, and the forced surrender of property, of which the incidents have been the utmost public encouragement, direct and indirect, upon the one hand, and violent public spolia tion on the other—such are the chief facts which hare sustained the declaration put forward in the notice of the Chief Superintendent of the trade of British sub jects, dated at Macao on the 23d day of March last, that he was without confidence in the justice and mo deration of the provincial Government. Correction remaining to be made for the circum stances that these later deeds have been perpetrated mainly under the authority of the Imperial Commissioner, he is also t o d ec l are th at h e i s w i t h out con fid ence i n t h e justice and moderation of the said Imperial Commis sioner. Acting on behalf of her Majesty's Government in a momentous emergency, he has in the first place to sig nify that the demand he recently made to her Majesty's subjects for the surrender of British-owned opium under their control had no special reference to the circum stances of that property. But (beyond the actuil pres sure of necessity) that d eman d was f oun d e d on the principle that these violent, compulsory measures being utterly unjust, per se, and of general application for the forced surrender of any othr property, or of human life, or for the constraint of any unsuitable terms or concessions, it became highly necessary to vest and leave the right of exacting effectual security, and full indemnity for every loss, directly in the Queen. These ' outrages have already temporarily cast upon the British Crown immense public liabilities ; and it is incumbent upon him at this moment of release to fix the earliest period for removal from a situation of total insecurity, and for the termination of all risk of similar responsibility on the part of her Majesty's Government. He is sensible, too, that he could not swerve from the purposes now to be declared without extreme danger to vast public claims already pending, and to general lAnd permanent interests of highest moment. Thus situated, then, and once more referring to his public notice, dated at Macao on the 28d day of March last, he has again to give notice to, and enjoin all her Ma jesty's subjects to make preparation for quitting Canton before, or at the same time with her Majesty's establish ment ; which departure will take place as soon as the Chief Superintendent has completed his public obliga tions to this Government. For the general convenience he will afford the best information in his power, from time to time,conceraing the probable period of that event. And he has further to give notice, that British sub jects, or others, thinking fit to make shipments of pro perty on British account on board of British or any other foreign shipping actually in this river, will be pleased to regulate their proceedings in these respects, upon the understanding that such shipments must be made at their personal risk and responsibility after the date of this notice. _ _ And he again enjoins all her Majesty's subjects in Canton to prepare sealed declarations and lists of all claims whatever against Chinese subjects, to be ad justed as nearly as may be to the period of their re spective retirements from Canton before him, or at the same time with him. And whilst it is specially to be understood that the proof of British property, and value of all such claims handed in to him before his departure, will be deter mined upon principles and in a manner hereafter to be defined by her Majesty's Government, he has to recom mend, with a view to uniformity and general clearness, that claims for British property left behind should be drawn up as far as may be practicable on invoice cost. And he has now to give notice to, and enjoin, all her Majesty's subjects, either actually in China, or here after arriving, merchants, supercargoes, commanders, commanding officers of ships, seamen, or others, having control over, or serving on board of, British ships or vessels, bound to the port of Canton, ❑ot to be requiring, aiding, or assisting in any way in the bringing in to the said port of Canton any such British ship or vessel to the great danger of British life, liberty, and property, and the prejudice of the interests and just claims of the Crown, till a declaration shall be published under his hand and seal of office, to the effect that such bringing in of British shipping, or of British property in foreign shipping, is safe in the premises. And the Chief Superintendent making these solemn in junctions for the safety of British life, liberty.and property, and in the protection of the interests and just claims of the British Crown, reserves to her Majesty's Government in the most complete manner the power to cancel and disregard all future claims whatever, on the part of her Majesty's subjects or others, preferring such claims on account of British property, either left behind, or to be brought in, if any such British subjects or others pre ferring such claims shall disregard these injunctions now put forward, respecting the keeping out of British ship. ping and property, till the declaration aforesaid shall be duly published. And he has once more to warn her iqujesty's subjects in anxious terms, that such sudden and strong measures as it may be found necessary to adopt on the part of competent authorities, for the honour and interests of the British Crown, cannot be prejudiced by their conti nued residence in Canton, beyond the period of his own stay, upon their own responsibilities, and in spite of the solemn injunctions of her Majesty's officer. Given under my hand and seal of office at Canton, in China, this 22d day of May, 1839, CHARLES ELLIOT, Chief Superintendent of the Trade of British Subjects in China. (True Copy) EDWARD ELMSLIE, Secretary and Treasurer to the Superintendents. MEMORIAL OF THE BRITISH MERCHANTS AT CANTON. TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, - - - SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, &C We, the undersigned British merchants, trading a Canton, consider it our duty to address your Lordship regarding the recent acts of aggression on the part of the Chinese Government. These acts of violence, which will be officially com municated to your Lordship by her Majesty's Superin tendent, consist :- 1. In the stoppage of the whole legal trade of the port, even of vessels fully laden and waiting only their port clearances, and against which no ground of com plaint is alleged. 2. In the forcible detention in Canton of all fo reigners, including her Majesty's Superintendents, in order to compel the supposed holders of opium to the surrender of property belonging to themselves and others in India and Europe, to the value of from two to three millions sterling. 3. In the open and undisguised threat to hold fo reigners responsible with their lives for this surrender, and for any future infraction of the Chinese custom laws. 4. In the attempt to force foreigners to sign bonds, rendering not only themselves, but all others coming to China, over whom they have no control, liable to the same penalty ; and, on the refusal on the part of foreigners to sign such bonds, in the promulgation of an edict by the High Commissioner, declaratory of the determination of the Government to enforce such penalty. We may be permitted to state that all foreigners re side in Canton on sufferance ; that they have no means of ascertaining the laws except from the acts of the Provincial Government ; and that the opium trade has steadily increased from an import of 4,100 chests in 1796, to upwards of 30,000 chests in 1837, with the open and undisguised connivance of the - local authorities. The importation of opium into China was at one time allowed on payment of a duty, but discontinued in 1796. Its admission was again strongly recommended to the Imperial Government in 1836. No penalties have ever been enforced against foreigners bringing it to China, and the prohibitory laws have never been a rule to the functionaries of the Chinese empire, who should have administered them, not to the Chinese people, on whom they were intended to operate, which facts are openly admitted in the recent edicts of the Imperial Commissioner, under date of the 18th March last, in which he states, " that the prohibitions formerly enacted by the Celestial Court against opium were comparatively lax," and that " the foreigners are men from distant lands, and have not before been aware that the prohibition of opium is so severe." We may further state, that the peculiar character of the opium trade was distinctly recognized in the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, in 1830, and that in the subsequent report of 1832 [tile Committee express their opinion, that " it does not seem advisable to abandon so important a source of r evenue as the East India Company's monopoly of opium i n Bengal." We conceive it will therefore he admitted that Bri tish subjects have carried on this trade w at! tohmemsaunoe tion, implied, if not openly ex pressed, of the r years from of a e ver nment, and, at the same time, wi th an i t advantage to the revenue of British In dia varyingone to one and a half millions sterling. bl e We do not attempt to deny the un quLstiona . right of the Chinese Gover nment to put a stop to the impor tation of opium, and have rea dil y si g ned an a g reement to abstain from thattrade at Canton , on the first requi sition of the Go vernment to that effect ; but we think perceive that long prescription had ‘ll foreig n ers vi ample reason to questio n the yourhitherto given sincerity of the Chinese Government with regard to the di s continuance o i tern importation,en tan e and not ti b l e ustified, by that tj under any circumstances, that a t the m G the lax o bservance of prohibitions, and open conn i va nce of its officers, in at one time foste r i ng a t ra d e i nvo l v i ng seve ral millions sterling, and at another rendering its pursuit a pretext for spoliation. There seems no reason t o d ou bt, f rom the late pro ceedings of the local Government, that they have al ways had the power most materially to check, if not totally to put a stop to the importation of opium when disposed so to do ; but that power has seldom hitherto be en exercised, exce pt f or th e purpose of exacting higher fees for its introduction. EVENING EDITION. The proceedings of the High Commissioner since his arrival in Canton will be fully reported to your Lord ship by her Majesty's Superintendent ; but we may ob serve that his demand for the unconditional surrender of the whole of the opium in the depot ships was one with which foreigners could not comply, the great bulk of that opium being the property of others in India and elsewhere, and they were equally unable to give the bonds required. The High Commissioner, finding at the expiration of three days, the time within which he had ordered the whole of the opium to be d e li vere d up and the bonds to be given, that his orders h a d not b een obeyed, sent the Hong merchants in chains to the foreign factories, threatening to put them to death before our doors, and at the same commenced othe r menac i ng preparations against the foreigners themselves. At this stage of the business her Majesty's Chief Su perintendent arrived at Canton. We feel it our duty to express to your L or d s hi p our deep sense of the public spirit which induced this officer, at no inconsiderable risk, endeavourto to rescue Briti s h life and property from a position of fearful jeopardy ; and we may assure your Lordship that but one feeling ex isted of the extreme peril of the whole community at the period when he succeeded in forcing his way to Cant on , and took charge of all responsibility in the negotiations with the Chinese Government. Although the measures of her Majesty's representa tive have relieved us from all responsibility in surren dering so large an amount of property, we may still be allowed respectfully but earnestly to entreat your Lord ship's mediation to obtain the earliest possible fulfilment of the guarantee given on behalf of her Majesty's Go vernment, and thus be the means of saving many of the owners of the property from inevitable ruin, and all of them from heavy loss. We deem it also an imperative duty to assure your Lordship most solemnly of our firm conviction that the public approval, on the part of her Majesty's Govern ment, of the prompt interposition of her Majesty's repre sentative, and the early adoption of such measures as the wisdom of her Majesty's advisers may determine on with regard to our future relations with the Chinese em pire, can alone avert the occurrence of similar or even more violent outrages. We beg further to state to your Lordship that, in dependently of the opium now violently seized, there i was at the same period British property of other kinds in Canton to the value of upwards of one million ster ling, besides a large and valuable feet of shipping lying at Whampoa, consigned to our care, but totally beyond our control ; and although this property was not al leged to have incurred any penalty, the High Commis sioner never attempted to distinguish the participators in the one trade from those in the other, but placed both under one common suspension, and the whole 'body of foreigners in arbitrary confinement. After the completion of the delivery of the opium surrendered, the High Commissioner has expressed an intention of opening the legal trade, under new regula tions, but circumstances do not justify us in entertain ing the expectation that these regulations sill afford any security for our life or property. ‘Ve therefore think your Lordship will be convinced that some serious alterations in our relations with this empire aro indispensably necessary, and that British commerce can never safely be carried cn, and certainly can never flourish, in a country where our persons and property are alike at the mercy of a capricious and cor rupt Government. In conclusion„ it only remains for us again to urge upon your Lordship and her Majesty's Government the great importance of an early recognition of our claims on account of the opium surrendered for her Majesty's service, and the pressing and paramount necessity of placing the general trade of British subjects upon a se cure and permanent basis. Canton, May 23, 1839. Dent and Co., Lindsay and Co., Bell and Co., Mae vicar and Do., Diann and Cc., Gibb, Livingston and Co., Charles S. Compton, D. and M. Rustom jee, Jamieson and How, :W. and 'l'. Gentmell and Co., Bitchy, Adam and Co., Turner and Co., Ro bert \Vise, Holliday and Co., Ileerjeehhoy Rus tomjee, Hormasjee Framjee, Shawuxshe.w Rus totnjee, Cowasjee Pallonjee, Boinanjee Hoson jee, Plaonjee Nesservanjee, Cowasjee Edulgee, Cowasjee Shapoorjee Taback, Burjorjee, Ma nuckjee, Daniell and Co., Framjee Dadabhoy, Bo manjee Maneckjec, Sackhusson Budwoden, Bur jorjee Sanabjee, Nesservanjee Dorabjee, Nesser vanjee Bomanjee Mody, Dossabhoy Hormusjee, Pestonjee Ruttonjee Saroff, Abadin and Sumsoodiu, Framjee Jamsetjee, Cooverjee Jeevagee, Pestonjee Nowrojee, Jamsetjee Rustomjee, Horrnuzjee By ramjee, Cursetjce Shapoorjee, Jetusetjee Eduljee, Cowmjee Sapoorjee L. for myself and partners. -Canton Press. Yesterday at the meeting of the Directors of the Southampton Railway, held at the Northam station, it was declared that the whole line would be opened to the public iu May, 1840. —Hampshire Advertiser. The Directors of the Birmingham Railway have consented to make Blissworth a first class station, and the Duke of Grafton has kindly offered the trustees of the Northampton-reads the land necessary for the purpose. _ Northampton Herald. It is in contemplation to erect a church in Lou don for t►:e especial use of the natives of the Principality to worshi, tbeir Maker in their own language. We cor dially concur in the object of the promoters of this owe:- leut undertaking, and trust it will meet with the support of the Welsh nubility and gentry throughout the kingdom. —Cambrian. By the Midland Counties Railway a hogshead of sugar may be sent off from Loudon and delivered at Nottingham five hours before a letter from London, leaving that place at the Sallnc time, could announce its departure, because the Post•oflice pertinaciously refuse to avail themselves of the Nilway.—Derby Reporter. An attempt has been made to renew the Chip petibiun Races, but the Mayor, from conscientious motives, has refused to permit the Cominittee to use the race. ground, which is Corporation property,.— Wiltshire Gozrtte. TIIELATE LADY FLORA 11ASTINGS.—Along correspondence respecting this lamented lady has been pub. lished in the London Papers. With every respect for the memory of the unfortunate Lady Flora Hastings, and with the sincerest sympathy for the wounded feelings of her brother, we must candidly own, that under the circumstances, so far from blaming Ladies Postman and Tavistock, we do not see how they could possibly have pursued a different line of conduct, consistent with their social duty as vir. t uo us women. The alleged indelicate treatment by Sir James Clark during the examination, admits of no p a lli a _ tion—but is the charge corroborated? As to any plot •against Lady Flora Hastings, we cannot discover even the shadow of a shade of its existence.—Hereford Times. There is now to be seen an apple tree in a gar den belonging to Mrs. Waltham, of Suttcrton, with blos. suns on some of its branches and fruit on the others....._ Stamford Mercury. An extraordinary accident occurred at the 'pawn broker's.shop at the corner of Hanway-strect, Tottenham court-road, on Saturday afternoon. The •,„. nor of the a lighted candle. shop and h;s boy w ere in the cistern, with cleaning it out, when the water wits unexpectedly turned on, and at the same time there was an explosion of gas, by which the young man was Seriously burnt. It is conjec tured that a quantity of gas had accumulated in the empty pipe, and was forced out by the water as it rushed into the cistern. FIRE IN BRISTOL.—On Wednesday night, soon after twelve o'clock, an alarming fire broke out in the • warehouse belonging to the flax manufactory of Messrs. Edwards and Baker, near the Dings, in the parish of St., Philip's. The flames spread with lea, fel rapidity, and could not be subdued until the whole of the extensive warehouse and stock were rendered a hoap of ruins: At one period the flames threatened destruction to the mann- • factory and the adjoining premises. The damage sustained is said to amount to about 3,oool. —Bristol Mirror. ACCIDENT IN A FACTORY.—On Wednesday, another accident occurred at Swainson's Factory. A Bute kioy, about eleven years of age, was sweeping under- Leath some of the machinery, when hip, hair was caught he cou ntry con sciences n. and part of his scalp torn from his head. 'He was soon rescued, and though seve re ly injured, we are i hlto . learn that he is likely soon to recover. --Preston Observer. k ENGLAND A PRIEST-RIDDEN COUNT R Y . England appears to be the most priest-ridden t in Europe. I pretend not to affirm that the influence of general, c A c l i l ,2 lC n l e l e l s speak of o i l s e cpxceorpcilsee;d farby t f h ro e m clergy it. Tohrecirr tderivedthe con fr n o c m x i on th s e owfeaeltairchof individual thewhol ; e body, alw anti Catholic tbes e e m v i es ti no g n 1 ei withcs i Catholic his means, is extended over society ir, hat 'chards When I declare to my friends here, that in. : %.N. a n ppraireisst:oi parishioners o r s f coun tries we never, unless we send for him, ince , hoeiety—ano that, beyond his own sphere and what I: a hisq nut ch u r t c h l the —that influence never is own duties, he —I am scarcely believed. priests there doubtless are who would wish to ext end the political in fluence of the Chu rc h ; but in the society of private life a Priest is never seen. Here, on the contrary, a dinner -party wi;h out finding at least h.lto lever go to of t . b n findingpan compos e d o f t h e c l ergy o f t h e ne i gh b ourhood. If Igoto i ' of the itil evening party, I fi n d th a t three-fourthsyoung :adios arc daughters of clergymen • , and the remainder of !lie fair group is made up of wives. sisters, cousins, or nieces of the servants of the church. Not a family some living at its disposal, some son looking out for church p.e:ectukoo, or some relation handsomly endowed with it. Not a fatally but is, in some way or other, interested in the support of the wealthiest Church Establishment in ' Europe—in the assertion of a political-religious monopoly of loyalty and faith. All this it is which gives the Angli can clergy their amazing influence in s;ociety---particularly in the society of the country. They themselves may affect or even feel liberality ; but woe as the man who there in- . curs the displeasure of their rives and daughters by being indisposed towards anythirg'in Church or State which they may fancy it to be the ;merest of their Corporation to main tain! I think I mirj r 'itistiy call the Anglican Church a cot.- poraton ; and a political c orporatiou to boot ; ore how 'oftent do we not he,lr the clergy declare that the supprt State is essential to the prosperity of their religion ? How often do we not 'near their cry out, whenever they fancy that the State is inclined to withdraw any pultion of. its ex- clivaive s upport or favour, that the Church is in d an ger ? One accustomed to see religion dependent upon. itcelt for the influence which it may exercise is greatly aane.ished by this avowed necessity for the earthly patronage of a heavenly ebjevt."