The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-07 00:00:00

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

DESCRIPTION OF NEW ZEALAND,I
BY DR. LANG.

(FRIDAY EVENING.)

POST.--The money transactions in the City were
not to-day characterized by any new feature. The notice
issued yesterday by the Bank of England has tended to
render discounts mere readily obtainable with the great
, dealers; and the anxiety so generally felt in the early part
of the week, as to the result of the stress which was at that
time upon the market, is gradually diminishing. Of the
acceptances lately discounted by the Bank, a very large
amount fell due on Wednesday, the great monthly pay-day
for c :mmercial bills, and, to the credit of the mercantile
body, not a single case of default occurred upon the occa-
sion. The day passed over altogether satisfactorily. In-
dependently of the amounts collected by the private
bankers and others, the sum applicable to the Bank
of England alone was, we are assured, but little short
of a million sterling. The truth is the greatca-
pitalists in Lombard-street are becoming fully alive
to the true position of our commercial affairs. They
sec perfectly well that the Bank Directors are doing.
all that they can do, in propriety, for the relief of
the public, and that it is essential to their own interest that
they also should at such a juncture as this, when, by a
combination of circumstances over which no human pru-
dence could exercise the smallest control. things are fore, d
out of their natural course, put their shoulder to the wheel.
The money houses are supposed to be actuated in ordinary
times by no other consideration than that of private gain ;
but, in the present instance, we are unwilling to assign any
such motive for their conduct. The liberal policy which
they have adopted within the last few dais, for they have
in many cases reduced their charge for accommodation to
something below the Bank rate, has, we are convinced,
been dictated by a worthier feeling, and we trust that this
harmony and unity of purpose between the trading and the
banking and monied interests will be persevered in—at any
rate until the crisis in which we now find ourselves shall
have passed over. It is impossible but that, in the event
of any one of them being prostrated by the pressure of the
moment, the others must suffer by the shock, and this very
severely.

The group of islands known under the general name
of New Zealand is situated a little to the westward of
the 180th degree of East or West longitude, and
between the 34th and 48th parallels of South lati-
tude ; extending from North to South upwards of
eight hundred geographical miles, with an average
breadth of upwards of one hundred miles, and con-
taining an extent of surface equal to that of the
British Islands. The coast line, following the various
indentations of the land, extends considerably upwards
of three thousand miles, and probabiy comprises a
greater number of eligible harbours, bays, and road-
steads, than is to be found along an equal extent of
coast in any other part of the world. In the winter
season--from May to September inclusive—these
bays are the resort of the Black or Right Whale ;
and at a moderate distance from the land, the
Sperm Whale is found, occasionally in vast herds,
is the surrounding ocean. Indeed, it is a fact worthy of
special notice, as indicative of the superior eligibility of
New Zealand as a whaling station, that the whale caught I
on the New Zealand ground yields a third more oil than
an animal of the same size and species caught in any
other part of the world. I am indebted for this fact to
a whaling captain of great experience in the South Sea
fisheries, and of undoubted veracity.
It cannot be denied, however, that this branch of
trade, so peculiarly important to a maritime nation, as
a grand nursery for seamen, is fast passing out of the
hands of Great Britain and • her colonies. Of the
whalers at present on the coast of New Zealand, about
one hundred are American, thirty British, and thirty
French. The French vessels, most of which belong to
a company of naturalized Swiss merchants at Havre de
Grace, are beyond all comparison the finest and best
equipped in the trade ; their crews are also the
most orderly and the best conducted. They are
consequently the most persevering and the most
.successful ; the Swiss Company having actually realized
not less than thirty-five per cent. on their capital in-
vested, according to the information I received from a
gentleman at the Bay of Islands, who had abundant
means of ascertaining the fact.
Everything that enlightened policy could dictate has
in the meantime been done by the French Government
to extend and to render popular this important branch
of the national industry. A bounty, amounting to 41.
per ton, is allowed in France on all whale-oil procured
by French whalers ; and every encouragement is judi-
ciously held out to those citizens of the United States,
who ri.re at all acquainted with the whale fishery,
to settle in the kingdom. A considerable number
of the French whaling vessels have hitherto been
commanded by naturalized Americans ; one of whom,
so eatly as the year 1834, was made a chevalier
of the legion of honour by Louis Philippe, as a
reward for his eminent services in that capacity, and
as an inducement to his enterprising countryman to be-
come citizens of France. Nay, the attentions of their
truly paternal Government fallow the French whalers
even to the distant Pacific ; where a frigate and two
other French ships of war have recently been cruising
for their protection, as well as to conciliate the natives
of the different islands they visit. In short, Great
Britain has seldom had a more formidable rival on her
own element and in her own peculiar walk, than she
now has in the Southern Pacific under the flag of the
Citizen King.
Whether the French have any ulterior views—l
mean in regard to the formation of a permanent settle-
ment either in New Zealand or in some of the other
islands—l cannot tell : the general impression, however,
both in New South Wales and in New Zealand, is.
that they have ; and that impression seems by no means
unwarranted from various circumstances which it is un-
necessary to particularize.
There is reason to fear that unless the requisite pre-
ventive measures are speedily taken, this most important
branch of maritime industry (the whale fishery) will ere
long be wrested entirely out of the hands of Great Bri-
tain and her colonies by the Americans and the French.

TIME S.—A change fr the better is observable to-day
n the money market generally, to which the recent Bank
notice may have contributed, though it cannot be said to
have been wholly brought on by it. Money on the Stock
Exchange can very seldom be made to bear a high rate
for a long time together, unless under very peculiar cir-
cumstances ; and the late scarcity seems to have been owing
more to the clumsy mode in which the recent funding of
Exchequer bills was managed, than to any other cause.
There had been so little demand for money for some time
previously, that it had ceased to be worth while for wealthy
capitalists to keep a large amount disposable for em-
ployment there, so that when the jobbers and specu.
lators threw the share in the Exchequer scrip upon the
market which it suited their purpose to take, the
means were not at hand for holding the stock, until
taken off by the gradual consumption of the public.
The expectation that the Banks of England and Ire-
land were also about to sell the new stock they had
acquired by the funding added to the excitement and
the difficulty; and as there seemed then scarcely any limit
to the demand. those who had money to lend could make
almost any terms they pleased. In the midst of this ex-
citement and depression of prices, not only was much ad-
ditional capital brought into the Stock Exchange to
take advantage of the high rate of interest paid there upon
such securities as Consols and Exchequer bills, but the
public at large became purchasers of stock for investment,
thus increasing the supply of money, and taking off that
article upon which advances of it were required. Had
the funding of Exchequer bills been managed with
ordinary skill and care, all this derangement of the
transactions in Government securities, and consequent
injury to public credit, might have been spared.
In the discount market, which is influenced by causes
wholly distinct from the affairs of the Stock Exchange,
there is also a great apparent amelioration, but the infe-
renees to be drawn from it, and the reflections it is calcu
lated to produce, are anything but satisfactory. At length,
if the Bank is to be saved from another suspension—and
even that is not certain—her measures are producing the
consequences always to be dreaded from them, of almost
paralysing trade, and putting a stop to all commercial
operations on a large scale. The leading merchants
of the city have declared, without reserve, for some
time past, that they avoid all business which is not
indispensable until they see the course which the
affairs of the Bank are taking. Wish the decline of
business a correspondent falling.off in the amount of
bills to represent it takes place, and the money dealer
who employs his capital in discounts must lower his
terms as the number afloat diminishes, and then sin
perficial observers exult at the supposed restoration
of private credit and return to commercial prosperity.
In reality, the trade of London has not been for many years
in the anxious and crippled state that it is at present. The
common remark to-day among the discount brokers was,
that the amount of bills offering is extremely unimportant
compared with what ought to be, and is usually, the case
at this time of the year. This alone would seem to show
the truth of the preceding remarks, and it is feared more-
over that no improvement in trade and manufactures is to
be looked for, at all events before the latter end of the year.
The comparative easiness of money both in and out of
the Stock Exchange has acted favourably on the funds, in
which otherwise business has been very quiet. Consols
advanced to 931 to 4 for Money, and 9li sellers for the
Account. Exchequer Bills are 7s. to 9s. premium. India
Stock, 248.

The climate of New Zealand is decidedly one of the
finest in the world—like that of Italy and the South of
France towards the north, and like that of England an,l
the South of Scotland towards the south ; the winter,
however, being milder than that of Great Britain. I was
particularly struck with the glow of health exhibited on
the cheeks of the children of Europeans a: the Bay of
Islands, compared with the pale faces of children of the
same age at Sydney, in much the same latitude. It was
quite remarkable. At all events the climate of New
Zealand is undeniably superior to that of New South
Wales and Van Dieman's Land in one most important
particular, viz., in being free from droughts and hot
winds ; its insular character, its chain of lofty mountains
running from north to south along the whole extent of
the islands, and its distance from any large continent,
ensuring it a constant and copious supply of rain. In-
deed this most favourable circumstance renders New
Zealand decidedly more eligible for the settlement of in-
dustrious families of the humbler classes, intending to
earn their subsistence by the cultivation of the soil, than
either of these two great pastoral colonies ; for there has
never yet been a crop lost in Nest Zealand from want of
rain, which, lam sorry to say, is not the case in New
South Wales.

The attention of the dealers in the foreign house was al-
most exclusively occupied with Spanish Stocks, in which
the operations have been on an extensive scale. During the
course of the day the Active Stock, with the May coupons,
reached 251, but at the close of business the price receded
to 24g. Portuguese Five per Cents. were 30i to it ; the
Three per Cents., 202 to a ; Brazilian were 78 to ;
Mexican, 28 to i; Colombian improved to 32 to 2. Dutch
advanced slightly, the Two-and-a-Half per Cents. being
54k to n ; the Five per Cents., io Belgian, 1021
to 32 ; Danish, 741 to 51.
A better topic existed in the market for Railway Shares.
London and Birmingham were 49 to 51; the Quarter
Shares 16 to 17 premium; Great Western, 11 to dis-
count; the Half Shares, par to 1 premium; Brighton, 142
to 14; Black wall, 14 to 4 discount ; Southampton, 41 to
3 ; Croydon, 10 to 11 per share.
The exchanges exhibit rather a tendency to decline to-
day in the rates on some of the principal places. On
Amsterdam the rate at short was 12. 14, being a decline
of 1 since the last post day. On Hamburg, at three
months, the rates were 13. 101 to 4, which are a shade
lower. On Paris they remain 25. 30 to 371 at short.
The commercial firm of Bell and Grant have resumed
business, and are ready to pay all claims upon them in full.
As an evidence of the recovery of debts in the United
States must be satisfactory to the trading public generally,
a copy of the circular issued on the occasion is subjoined

The northern parts of the northern island are cer-
tainly less adapted for sheep and cattle than the open
pastarol country in the vicinity of Cook's Straits. 'To-
wards the north the country is more covered with tim-
ber and more moist ; and the improvable land, instead
of being coated over with good pasture, in its natural
state, as is the case generally in New South Wales, is
for the most. part overgrown with fern. The fern,
however, never grows on bad land in New Zealand, and
the quality of the soil is generally indicated by the size
and strength of the fern ; inferior land producing only
a stunted and puny vegetation. When sown with
English grasses, the New Zealand fern-land produces
excellent pasture. The English clover in particular
grows luxuriantly.
The localities in which an agricultural population
could be settled in the first instance with greatest
facility, and with the best prospect of success, are the
`wanks of the River Thames on the east coast and those
of the Hokianga, Kaiparra, and Munakau rivers on
the west. On these rivers which are all navigable for
vessels of considerable burden, and especially for
steam-boats, their is a vast extent of alluvial land,
of the first quality, which would produce, in the
greatest abundance all the roots, fruits, vegeta-
bles, and grains of Europe, including wheat, maize,
and potatoes, tobacco, the olive, and the vine. The
potatoes of New Zealand are proverbially excellent, I
mean in New South Wales ; they are cultivated most
successfully by the natives, without manure of any
kind ; they come to maturity in fourteen weeks, and two
crops of them are obtained in the year. Wheat yields
at the rate of forty bushels per acre, and I have seen
maize grown by the natives with very indifferent culture
near the Bay of Islands, equal to any in New South
Wales. In short, all the necessaries of life and many
of its luxuries could be raised with very moderate in-
dustry by an agricultural population in ail the localities
I have enumerated.
On the banks of all the New Zealand rivers I have
enumerated, there are splendid forests of native timber,
and there is already a considerable trade carried on in
the island. , in the cutting of that timber for exportation.
At the time I was in the Bay of Islands in January and
February last, there were not fewer than four large
vessels loading timber at Hokianga—one for London,
one for Launceston, in Van Diemen's Land, one for
Adelaide, in Southern Australia, and one for Port
Phillip, in New South W des. It is singular indeed,
that all these three colonies should thus have to send for
timber to New Zealand. Such, however, is the fact.
Of the natural productions of New Zealand the most
remarkable is the phormiunz tenax, or New Zealand
fl Ix. This valuable plant resembles in appearance the
common ii ig. It affects moist situations, but is by no
means fastidious as to the quality of the soil in other
respects. Whether it would improve by cultivation I
do not know, but it is found in sufficient quantity in its
wild state to afford constant and remunerating employ-
ment to a large European population.
It is evident, thet efore,that that island will eventually
be the Baltic of the Southern Hemisphere, supplying
the great desiderata of commerce—timber, and flax—
and affording support and employment to a numerous end
industrious European population. Iron ore of superior
quality abounds in the island, and coal is said to have
been found at the surface in Cook's Straits. There are
indications of copper in the mountains of the interior ;
and on White's Island, on the east coast, which is still
under volcanic agency, sulphur can be procured in
great quantity. Limestone abounds in the interior,
and excellent marble.

In one word, whether we regard the situation, the
soil, the climate, or the natural productions and inhabi-
tants of the country, I am confident, my Lord, there
never has been^ a more favourable locality for the set-
tlement of a British Colony than the New Zealand
group of islands at this moment affords.
It may he supposed, indeed, that in u country of
which the natives have so long been represented in
Europe as ferocious cannibals, Europeans would run
considerable risk in attempting to form a perma-
nent settlement. But the circumstance of there
being. at present a very considerable European
population living in perfect security in various
parts of the island, is a sufficient answer to such an ob-
jection. Cannibalism has entirely disappeared in the
neighbourhood of all the European settlements ; and in
their native wars, the New Zealanders uniformly respect
the Europeans who are settled among them, unless the
latter, which, indeed is seldom the case, take part with
one or other of the hostile tribes.

The Commandant-General of the province of
Ciudad Real and Toledo, after detailing various affairs
with the factious, reports the surprise of the infamous
I Palillos, and his staff on the morning of the 21st,
with such rapidity that Philolos, his son, and staff,
had to escape naked, (literally in their bare skins, the
Spcniards sleeping without a shirt), on their horses
without saddles, leaving behind their sabres, arms,
gear, and all they had ; three mules, a mare,
v5O head of horned catth, 410 sheep, 210 pigs, the sword
and carbine of Pa'illos himself among the rest. Thus
fortune smiles in all parts on the Queen's arms.

THE SUN, LONDON. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1839.

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT AT
EDINBURGH TO MR. MACAULAY.

On Monday evening the members and friends of the
Edinburgh Mechanics' Subscription Library held an
entertainment in the Waterloo Rooms, in that city, in
order that the principles and objects of this excellent
institution might be fully laid before the public. As
Mr. Macaulay, M.P. for the city, had delayed his de-
parture to enable him to be present, and, as it was gene-
rally understood that party politics would be excluded,
the attendance was about 700, including persons of all
shades of political opinion.

The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Murray, printer) commenced
the business of the evening by stating, that as this meet-
ing was called for the sole purpose of advancing the in-
terests of the Mechanics' Library, it could not be wrong
to crave the divine blessing on their efforts, and called
on Dr. John Brown to perform that sacred duty, which
the Doctor accordingly did.•
The CHAIRMAN then said that the purpose of the
meeting was to lay before the public the nature, objects,
and principles of an institution which, it was believed,
was well calculated to benefit a large portion of the com-
munity of Edinburgh. The institution was formed by
thirty individuals about 14 years ago, paying ss. each,
and now consisted of between 700 and 800 members,
and 6.000 to 7,000 volumes, with an annual income of
upwards of 3001. At the commencement its members
were laid under deep obligations to the late Mr. Archi-
bald Constable and Mr. W. Blackwood, as well as to
Mr. Adam Black, Mr. John Murray of London, and
other gentlemen ; but this topic would, he believed,-be
dwelt on at greater length by other speakers. He
would not detain the meeting further than to say that
apologies had been received from Lord Cockburn, who
would have been there but from very particular, circum-
stances, and from Mr. Shank More on account of ill
health. The Chairman concluded by asking the com-
pany to unite in dedicating, the first bumper to her
Majesty—" The Quecn."—(Cheers.)
Mr. MACAULAY then said—There are certainly—
and I do not know that they are confined to any one
political party—there are certainly men whose inten-
tions may be upright, but whose minds I cannot but
consider as narrow, who look with jealousy and aver-
sion on any scheme of this description ; and the bur-
den of their argument, if it deserves the name, is
generally this :

" A little learning is a dangerous thing."
If, indeed, we consider the weight and force of this
argument against " a smattering of science" and " a
little knowledge," we shall find that it not only tends to
the most pernicious consequences, but is most absurd in
itself. For what do we understand when we speak of
" a little knowledge," and of smattering of science ?"
If we look at all possible known truth—at the whole
vast mass of physical and of moral science, then, I say,
that we ail know little, and that all of us are mere smat-
terers,—(Lond cheers.) But, if on the other hand,
we appeal to the standard—not of what can be known,
nor what men might possibly have known—but of what
men, and great men, and eminent men actually have
known, then we shall see still more clearly how absurd
these arguments are ; for most happily such is the pro-
gress of mankind, of society, of experimental science,
and such the accumulation of information, that a man
with but small expense of time, and few opportunities,
may in one age learn far more than any man with the
best appliances and amplest leisure could in a different
age. It seems to me the height of absurdity to withhold
from any class of men the advantages of that which
can be shown to be good and useful knowledge, be-
cause from unfortunate circumstances they are not
able to devote any very large portion of leisure to its
cultivation. I do most firmly believe—and lam only
going to say what every intelligent Conservative and
Reformer in this country may say with equal sincerity
—that the spread of intellectual cultivation among the
people does tend to useful Conservation as well as to
useful Reform. I do believe that it tends to the removal
of abuses, and by the mildest remedies, and at the
same time to preserve all that is truly valuable in
Government.—(Loud cheers.) Ido believe that the
spread of intellectual education tends to diffuse in in-
dissoluble conjunction the love of liberty and the love
of order. After some just and eloquent remarks on the
pleasures and consolation of reading Mr. Macaulay said
—For myself, having owed so much as I do to the
soothing is,fluences of literature, I should be inexcusable
were I to grudge to others that enjoyment which I have
so highly relished myself. He concluded by proposing
" Prosperity to the Mechanics' Library."—(Cheers.)
Several toasts were afterwards given, arid the com-
pany separated at a late hour.

IRELAND.

AGITATION FOR A REPEAL OF THE UNION.
NATIONAL TRADES' POLITICAL UNION.

Last Tuesday night there was a numerous meeting
of this body. Speeches were made respectively by
Mr. Slevin, who presided, Messrs. Hertland O'Brien,
T. Reynolds, and Mooney. The first resolution con-
cluded in the following terms :
" And we now feel ourselves bound to declare that it
is our firm conviction that, under present circum
stances, it is not in the power of any Ministry, however
favourably disposed, to carry any useful measure for
this plundered and misgoverned country ; and we have
now deliberately come to the conclusion that the only
hope for the happiness and prosperity of this country
is based and founded on our undoubted right to a do-
mestic Parliament."

The remaining resolution declared :—" That it ap-
pears to this meeting that nothing now remains to avail
ourselves of as a means of relief from the many ills and
hardships that beset this country, but the restoration of
our domestic Parliament, which we were in possession
of for centuries previous to the year 1800, and without
which, as an experiment of nearly forty years clearly
demonstrates, our country must continue to grow poorer
and poorer till nothing remains but the parish work-
house or voluntary transportation ; and that we pledge
ourselves to each other and to our country never to de-
sist until we establish in College-green a local Parlia-
ment, elected by the free choice of a free people, in
connection with the Crown of England."
An address to Mr. O'Connell was submitted to, and
subsequently adopted by, the meeting. This document
is called an " Address of the National Trades' Politi-
cal Union of Ireland to Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M.P."
The tendency of this address is, of course, congruous
with that of the resolutions :

" We are determined not to submit to this general
system of degradation and debasement any longer, and
we appeal to you, as our long and well•tried protector
and friend, to advise us under all the circumstances as
to the best time and mode of action on this momentous
question."

Again :—" We place our grievances and opinions
thus before you, satisfied that you will give us the best
advice under the circumstances, and we have only to
add, in conclusion, that whatever that advice may be
we are prepared to follow it either to the complete esta-
blishment of the happiness of our beloved country, or
to the grave."

REPEAL ! REPEAL ! !—The following is from the
Pilot :—" We have been obliged from the multitude of
communications, public meetings, &c., to postpone se-
veral matters connected with public affairs—above all,
to postpone them to give a lead to the public maniles-
tations for Repeal—because that is the all-absorbing
want, as it must become the topic and the measure, of
the country. The present position of Ireland is critical,
and requires all the discretion as well as spirit of her
leaders and people. The Irish people want executive
protection as well as legislative justice. They cannot
have the former, if they by any imprudence cause the
restoration of Toryism—they cannot have the latter,
experience and reason tell them, without the restora-
tion of a local Legislature. We must steadily and fer•
vently pursue Repeal, and the injustice of British legis-
lation will feed the public mind until the demand be-
comes irresistible. In the mean time, in its pursuit,
we must avoid as much as possible producing any imme-
diate evil—any intemperate expression of our feelings,
however strongly those feelings may be entertained.
We must attend to rule, to system, to caution—to a
settled, fixed, decided course, not the temporary shout=
ing of a popular assembly, but the continued working
of a fixed and determined people to persevere with ail
their energies, all their resources, all their might, to the
attainment of the one great paramount object, that of
obtaining for their country the principle of self4egis-
lat ion.

" The address of the trades, agreed to last night, was
presented to-day to Mr. O'Connell at his house in Mer-
rion•square by a deputation from the body, and the
Hon. Gentleman responded to al! its national and
deeply touching sentiments, and to none more marked
than to that passage that places the direction of the
time and the mode of agitating the great question at his
disposal. He said he was about to start for Darryno.ne,
and that the confusion necessarily attendant on his hasty
departure would deprivo him of the opportunity of re-
turning a written answer ; but that on his arrival at his
patrimonial residence he would return a suitable written
reply, and that the deputation might rest assured that
the remainder of his life would be dictated to the ac-
complishing of this great measure. The deputation
withdrew, deeply impressed and affected with the ear-
nestness and determination of the Honourable Gentle-
man, whose sentiments, we have no doubt, will be re-
spended to by every part of Ireland,
" We anticipate great things during the next three
months."

PROBABLE EFFECTS OF THE

THE WEATHER.—At length we hope we may con-
gratulate the country that the very unpropitious weather
which for some days past has caused so much alarm to
the farmers, is about to give way to more genial harvest
time.—Pilot of Wednesday.

BANK OF IREL AND MONOPOLY—DINNER TO THE
GLORIOUS MINORITY.-We understand that a deputa•
tion on behalf of the people of Drogheda waited yester-
day upon the Hon. and Learned Member for Dublin,
at his residence in Mcrrion-square, to consult him
as to the time at which it would most suit his con-
venience to accept a public dinner in that town, in
conjunction with the glorious minority who so nobly
and successfully aided him in his opposition to the
late Chancellor of the Exchequer's endeavour to perpe-
tuate the " withering monopoly" of the exclusive privi•
leges of the Bank of Ireland, as they were so well
designated by Sir Ralph Howard, the member for Wick-
low. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman, we are in-
formed, received the deputation very graciously, and
having expressed his appreciation of the compliment,
promised that he would, after communicating with the
other Members whom it is intended to honour with invi-
tations, intimate to a committee of the inhabitants on
what day himself and the other guests could most con-
veniently accept the intended entertainment. The day
named, it is supposed, will be close upon the assembling
of Parliament next Session.

PENNY POSTAGE.

A question arose during the conference, as to whether
the people of Drogheda would be satisfied with having
the monopoly confined to a circuit of 21 miles round
Dublin, and the deputation, with a spirit of nationality
which does honour to their feelings as Irishmen inter-
ested in the prosperity of every portion of their country,
declared that they would support Mr. O'Connell to the
utmost of their power and means in his efforts to abro-
gate totally the exclusive privileges of the Bank!
Honour to the honest men of Drogheda! may their
spirit animate others to the exertions which, if well-di-
rected, are certain to ensure success.—Pilot.

( From the New Monthly Magazine.)
A great revolution is about to be effected in the cor-
respondence of the nation ; and every one is busied in
considering how it will affect his own private interests—
that never-failing touch-stone of men's judgments on
all public measures. New i!embers of Parliament are
quaking for the loss of their privilege, " which should
be worn now in its newest gloss, not cast aside so
soon ;" while the more knowing old ones see nothing
in the abolition of franking, but the release from a most
burdensome and thankless task. Men of all classes, who
have business of their own to transact, hail the measure
as a diminution of counting-house expenses ; while they
who for their sins are condemned to occupy their leisure
with other people's affairs, tremble for the additional
applications with which they will be pestered.
Reprobate sons of the Temple, and the George Barn-
wells of City dash and expenditure, are scarcely less ex-
cited by an apprehension of the enlarged demand that
may be made on their patience, by the increased alacrity
of papas in writing jobations ; and they declare that for
the future they shall regard the post-office as nothing
better than a penny-tentiary. Their sister s.emstresses,
on the contrary, fondly anticipate at least a weekly rei.
teration of " lover's vows," from their sweethearts in
London, to the " girls they have left behind them."
For ourselves, much as we are gratified by the pro-
bable abolition of cross-lining among our female corre-
spondents, we cannot but look forward with dismay to a
heavy addition to our already severe editorial labours.
Hitherto, a salutary postage-has held the " rhyming
poetesses," and " the men of Mint," in some decent
check ; or if they were now and again so unreasonable
as to saddle the New Monthly with poetry and postage
too, the weight of expense has afforded an available ex-
cuse for not releasing the packet ; but for the future,
one pair of eyes will not suffice to skim even our over-
whelming communications, and to protect our best friends
from the assaults of those, whose " easy writing's d—d
hard reading."
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, we are told, is not
without his anxieties on account of a too possible deficit
in the revenue ; but it must be sonic comfort to him to
know that the paper-makers have already raised their
prices, on the prospect of an enlarged demand ; and that
the very beggars walk in their rags with a more confi-
dent brow, in the consciousness of how much more they
are worth " as they stand."
In this general excitement of hope or of alarm, of
gratification or of displeasure, we imagit;e that a word or
two about letters and letter-writers may not be unac-
ceptable ; while the occasion is certainly favourable to a
consideration of the manifold actions and reactions,
which so small a matter as the altered charge of a letter
must set going among the multifarious movements of
this overwrought and " go•ahead" nation. That great
events may, and do spring from the most trifling causes,
is a truth sufficiently commonplace ; and numerous in.
deed is the very worthy class who live in a perpetual
fever of apprehension at the passing of ill-considered
turnpike acts, and at legislative revolutions in the retail-
ing of excised articles ; but if such fears are sometimes
gratuitous, we cannot doubt that the present political
and social innovation has much more in it than meets
the eye, and may fairly justify a little fidgetty uneasiness
in those, who never know to what anything that happens
may lead.

We happen to have known more than one very pro-
mising matrimonial speculation broken off by men who
could not stand the overflowings of their lady love's
epistolary propensities, or by women who have resented
a want of punctuality in the replies of their. lovers. Be-
sides, love-letters are already at so heavy a discount,
that little apprehension need be entertained even from
a considerable increase in Cupid's correspondence.
Every man who is up to a thing or two (the fourth
form Etonians and Westminster inclusive) is aware
that lilera scripla manct, and that it is liable to
be farthceming in Courts of Justice, and elsewhere,
long after the sentiment that inspired it has been trans-
ferred to another party,—which is " exceedingly incon-
venient." There is, indeed, no maxim in morals more
universally understood, than that which says, make love
when and where you like, but write no letters. Abe-
lard himself, in virtue of his universal genius, seems to
have discovered this truth through the mists of his be-
nighted age ; at least he put as much coldness and
common-place into his replies to Eloisa's burning epistles,
as if he expected that they would be, one day, read in
full Consistory (there were no newspapers in those
times) ; and as for the lady, if she could have known
when she was writing, that her eloquence epistolaire
would be confided to the discretion of even a remote
posterity, we suspect :he would have thought twice
before she committed her secret to the keeping of the
Postmaster-General.

There are certain physiologists who entertain consi-
derable alarm at the influence of tea and coffee on the
nervous system, and who are constantly predicting the
worst possible consequences to our over-excited organs,
from the use of these stimulants. To such persons,
the diminution of postage must be a source of addi-
tional uneasiness, on account of its tendency to open
new veins of sentimentality, and to coincide with novel-
reading in raising the imaginations of the lieges
above concert pitch. Schoolmistresses, too, will ex-
claim against the additional obstruction thrown in the
way of their scholars' studies ; and fancy that as two dry
sticks rubbed against each other will kindle a flame, so
the friction of two romantic correspondents, when pos-
sessing such increased filcilities of movement, may en-
gender heats by no means consonant with the moral
health and discipline of their seminaries. To all such
alarmists we would suggest that the quantity of letter.
writing depends not merely on its pecuniary cost, but
varies alse with the quantity of ideas, and we recom-
mend them to consider the letter-box rather in the light
of a waste-pipe for conveying away the superfluous ac-
cumulation of romantic notions, than as an engine for
their development. The charge is already there in its
maximum intensity, and in quantity more than sufficient
to exhaust the largest post-office accommodations.
But perhaps the element of letter writing, which will
occasion the greatest alteration in existing arrange.
meets, is time. The faculty of doing two things at
once is enjoyed by so very few, and under such close re-
strictions, that we cannot contemplate any great increase
in the epistolary circulation of the kingdom, without
looking for a corresponding diminution in other accus-
tomed employments. To our friends, the publishers,
more especially, this is a matter for grave consideration.
They have but too much reason to expect a " forth-
coming deduction in their subscription-lists, as a conse-
quence of cheap postage. As things at present are, we
have often wondered how the public finds time to read
its letters, and keep up with the literature of the day ;
but if every man of us must receive and answer six times
our actual correspondence (nay, if it be but four), read-
ing any thing else will be almost wholly out of the
question.

THE DOVER. B A NQuET.—The dinner service
at the Duke's table was of the most magnificent description,
the knives having handles of gold. This service was the
same which was used at the civic banquet, when her pre-
sent Majesty honoured the city of London with a visit. The
tables for the company were laid out in a very tasteful
manner, and the following is the bill of fare :-26 tables,
25 each 26 ditto, 23 each ; 1 ditto, 124 each. Duke's
table, 172-29 quarters of lamb, 36 dishes roast veal, 56
ditto boiled beef, 28 ditto roast ditto, 120 couple chickens,
40 turkey poults, 28 hams, 56 tongues, 120 pigeon pies,
240 venison ditto, 180 fruit ditto, 160 custard puddings,
200 lobsters. 200 salads, cucumbers, pickles, &c. Dessert,
&c.—Kentish Observer.

THE NEW POLICE ACT AND TI/E ROYAL
RESIDENCES.—A paragraph which appeared in our paper
yesterday, under the above title, has been contradicted.
The Hon. Charles Murray, Master of the Household,
states that Messrs. Ledbitter and Capes were not removed
from attendance at the Royal Palaces in consequence of
neglect of duty. In the correspondence which passed
between the Home Department and the Household Officers
responsible for the security of the Roy al Person and Pa-
laces, no fault was ever found with the conduct of Messrs.
Capes and Ledbitter. They were superseded, and re-
placed by police inspectors, in consequence of several new
regulations introduced by the Secretary of State, and cot
from any circumstance reflecting upon their conduct or
character.

GLASGOW AND AYR RAlLWAY.—Con-
nected with this undertaking there are one or two statisti-
cal facts worthy of being recorded. The portion of the
line—which was opened on the sth of last month—extends
from Ayr to Irvine, a distance of eleven miles, and its con-
struction cost the sum of 80,0001. The annual number of
passengers between these places was estimated, in the
evidence before the Parliamentary Committee, at 33,000.
The number of passengers carried along the line during
the first week, from the sth to the 12th of August, was
2,466 ; from the 12th to the 19th, 2.649 ; from the 19th
to the 26th, 4.049 ; and from the 26th of August to the
Ist of September, 9,234;—making a total during. the
whole ,month of September of 18,398 passengers.
It is to
be observed, however, that the great increase of the num-
bers in the last of the four weeks enumerated was caused
by the Eglinton Tournament.—Glasgow Courier.
OPIUM TRADE.—As a commercial document,
there has seldom reached this country one of greater into-
rest and importance than the petition of the merchants of
Bombay to this Government, for indemnity against losses
sustained by delivering up, on the requisition of the Eng-
list superintendent at Canton, all the cargoes of opium
sent thither in the regular course of trade, according to
peactice time immemorial, but now made a national matter
of by the Chinese Government, and the lives and liberties
of the English residents rendered dependent on such a sa-
crifice. principle to com-
pensationmade to the parties in this case, the
be conceded that com-
pensation Allowingoug ought to
b
immense amount at hazard would make it next to impos-
sible and, as a secondary question,
there to l
if consequencesinto consider to the whole
will be
carry
theit into
Indian revenue, one of the richest sources of it is thus to
i
be cut off. by the abandonment hereafter of the opium
trade with China. It is not the petition of the Bombay
merchants alone with which Ministers will have to deal,
but similar appeals from the other Indian Presidencies,
who were all engaged, more or less, in the traffic. About
one-half, however, it is stated, is owned in Bombay. The
value surrendered to the Chinese is said to be about two
millions sterling, and the revenue to the East India Com-
pany from the opium duty to vary from 500,000/. to two
millions annually. Sir James Carnac, the new Governor

EVENING EDITION.

of Bombay, arrived on the 31st of May, after a voyage of
110 days. Mr. Danvers had been appointed as his private
secretary, Captain Lushington and Lieutenant Carnac his
aides-de-camp. Mr. Farish was again at the Council Board
—Times.

IRISH WAY OF WOOING.—At the Fermanagh
assizes, Robert Russell, Robert Browne, and Catherine
Little, were charged (the first as principal, and the others
as :abet ors) with the abduction of Catherine Hoey, an
extremely pretty girl of about 15 or 16, of respectable con-
nections, and heiress to 5,000/. The prisoners were also of
a respectable class in life. It appeared that Russell had
bad come slight acquaintance with the family of prosecu-
cterix, and that, at the time he carried her off, he was
superintending the farm of her father, who was then ill.
On the 24th of April he met Miss Hoey in Irvinestown
market, where he treated her, and in the evening offered
her a seat home on a jaunting-car, which she accepted.
She soon discovered, however, that they were on the wrong
road, and that fresh horses were waiting their arrival at
certain stages. The poor girl at once saw into the plot,
and called out for assistance to every one she met on the
road. When a man attempted to interfere Russell pulled
out a pistol, and threatened to shout him. Miss Hocy was
then driven about from one place to another, and forced
into a mock marriage, when Russell took her home to his
father's house, and kept her for a week, at the end of which
time the police rescued her. She swore, however, that he I
took no improper liberties with her during the whole time.
The participation of the other prisoners in the abduction
was clearly proved, and all three were convicted, and had
sentence of death recorded against them.
CONSEQUENTIALITY.—During the recent As-
size two little incidents occurred in the Nisi Prius Court,
which afforded a good deal of amusement to the audience,
A witness, on being asked what he was, replied that he
was " in the direction" of a certain bank ; which piece of
puppyism one of the special jurors very properly reproved
by exclaiming, " A clerk, Sir, I suppose In another
case, a young lawyer's clerk was asked by a learned Coun-
sel whether he was " sent" with a certain instrument to wit•
ness its execution, on which the exquisite, after a momen-
tary indignant pause, replied that be " was instructed to
go" by his employer. The distinguished barrister who was
examining him immediately exclaimed, with cutting irony,
" Oh, I beg your pardon, Sir, I am sure ; I hAd no in-
tention of affronting your dignity." If certain consequen-
tial folks could but be brought to see what fools they make
of themselves by displays of this kind, they would probably
condescend to speak plain English.—Maidstone Journal.
VEGETATIVE POWER OF SEA SAND.—A
few days since a quantity of sea sand was carted out of
Morecambe Bay, about a mile from the Farness shore.
It had been, less than an hour previously, covered a con-
siderable depth by the tide, and contained several cockles
and other shell fish. It was immediately placed in pits or
beds, 15 inches in depth, and sown without manure or ad-
mixture of any kind just in the state it was when taken
from the bay—with wheat, barley, peas, mustard, cress,
and radish seed. In five days, the mustard, cress, and
radish seed had sprouted, and begun to vegetate, having
thrown out a considerable length of root, whilst (what is
most extraordinary) the shell fish were even then quite alive.
Thus have we wheat, barley, peas, mustard, cress, and ra•
dishes, growing, and cockles and other shell fish in a living
state, in the same bed of sea sand ! Should any one he
at all incredulous as to the truth of this statement he can
e ,lily try the experiment himself ; an ordinary flower-pot
filed with sea-sand, sown with almost any kind of seeds,
would a: osce put the matter to the test. Common hay-
seeds sown in October last in beds of sand similar to the
above, and treated exactly in the same way, have now
grown to the extraordinary height of 3 feet 61 inches.
Some wheat sown about Christmas last (now in ear), 3
feet 9 inches; barley do., 3 feet 3 inches; peas sown
about April last (in full flower), 3 feet ; peas sown about
April last (pods completely formed), 3 feet 2 inches. The
flrmers all around the Bay of Morecambe, in forming corn-
posts for their wheat and barley crops, use of sea-sand
about 26 carts (small one-horse carts), lime about 4 carts,
manure 10 carts, per statute acre. Why use so great a
quantity of sea-sand if it does not possess very consider-
, able vegetative power ?

PUNISHMENT FOR READING A BOOK.—
Sherry Wilson, an aged Negro, was sentenced by the
Court of Queen Ann's County, Md. a few days since, to
ten years' imprisonment in the the State Penitentiary, for
reading improper hooks to slaves. The sentence of tho
Court was delivered by Judge Chambers. I❑ consequence
of Sherry's old age, and it being the first case of the kind,
the Judge sentenced him to as short a period as the law
would admit; but at the same time he expressed a deter-
mination to execute the utmait limit of the law, which is
twenty years, in every case of the kind which may hereafter
come before the Court. The law is very severe; atter
the expiration of the term of imprisonment in a case of
this kind, the offenders are required to leave the State,
and if they should ever return they are liable to be taken
up and sold as slaves.—Delaware Gazette.
ON CUTTING WHEAT BEFORE IT IS RIPE.
—An old and practical farmer gives the following opinion
on cutting wheat :—" The assertions which I have found
most prevalent are, that wheat may be cut some time be-
fore it is ripe; that it ripens at least ten days afterwards
in the field. It frequently happens with those farmers
who grow a great breadth of corn, that they find it con-
venient to begin a certain portion of it, in order to employ
the labourers they have engaged, and whom then• wish to
keep in constant work until the harvest be finished; under
such circumstances it is a happy belief that you are doing
no harm in persevering. The miller also tells you that
the sample is brighter, and be likes it. But does the far-
mer find that he can sell a shrivelled and almost green
sample for the same as one more bold ? I never found it
so—on the contrary—yet the corn cut before it is quite
ripe is thinner skinned, and contains no doubt a smaller
portion of bran. But depend upon it, corn thus sold nei-
ther yields a proportioeate profit to the grower nor consumer.
Taking into consideration weight, aad bulk, and price,
the ripe corn will be found most profitable. I name this
matter now, because the last harvest has afforded very
abundant examples of the different states of grain, being
in. many cases of two growths, half green, half ripe ; and
the farmer may, if he will take the trouble, successfully
scrutinise my assertion. Many years ago I instituted some
experiments as to the value of bright unripe wheat, com-
pared with that fully ripened ; and the result was that it
was not so glutinous, and did not imbibe nearly so much
water in the flour, and consequently made a much less
weight of bread. What I contend for is, that wheat,
when the ear begins to droop, is then only fit to be cut ;
that though the sample may look coarser, the produce to
the farmer will be greater, and more particularly so when
he is himself the consumer ; but if it he cut earlier, it
should by all means have plenty of time in the field before
housing, for it will not ripen in the rick."— Yorkshire:nem

GRATTAN'S EARLY PECULIARTIES.—When
we resided in Windsor Forest, he would spend whole
moonlight nights rambling and losing himself in the
thickest plantations. He would sometimes pause and ad-
dress a tree in soliloquy, thus preparing himself early for
that assembly which he was destined in later life to adorn.
One morning he amused us at breakfast with an adventure
of the night before, in the forest. In one of those mid-
night rambles he stopped at a gibbet, and commenced
apostrophizing the chains in his usual animated strain,
when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, and on turning
about, was accosted by an unknown person—" [low the
devil did you get down ?" To which the rambler calmly
replied—" Sir, I suppose you have an interest in that
question ?" Life and Times of henry Grattan.
A traveller who is come from Holland assures
us that King William, while reducing his army to the peace
establishment, has taken care to preserve, e.t at small ex-
pense, the faculty of replacing it o❑ the complete war
establishment in a short time, and with little expense.
The skeletons are retained; and if the soldiers are pro-
visionally discharged, he has taken care not to part with
the horses, which it is always difficult to obtain when they
are wanted in a hurry. Most of the horses were placed
with the farmers, who employ them in agriculture, besides
receivina. 30 cents. duty for each horse, which the State
pays to those who take charge of them. Subaltern offi-
cers are appointed as inspectors, to ascertain from time
to time if the horses en well fed, and kept in a condition
fit for military service. Nothing, therefore, is more easy
than to put the Dutch cavalry and artillery in a condition

to take the field at the shortelt notice.—Brussels Pap(r.
JOINT STOCK V. PRIVATE BANKS.--Up-
' wards of one hundred and thirty private banks in England
aad Wales have already incorporated themselves with
J.,int Stock Companies, proof sufficient (if proof were
wanting) of the increasing popularity of a system which
has worked so admirabiy for Scotland for the space of one
hundred and fifty years. These private bankers hay
acted wisely in thus bending to the altered circumstance
of the times, and disposing of their business (while worth
the consideration of purchasers) to the active promoters
of the Joint Stock Banks. The Commercial Bank of
London, with one thousand poutiti shares, is leading the
way for a similar change in the system of metropolitan
banking.
THE END OF A DRUNKARD'S CAREER.•ma
An inquest was lately; held before Mr. Higgs, at the
New Prison, Westminster, on the body of Samuel Saun-
ders, aged 34. From the testimony of Mr. Kilsby, the
clerk of the prison, it appeared that the deceased was tried
at the last We3tminster Sessions for April, far stealing two
pint pots, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
The deceased bad formerly been a porter, but at last took
to drinking ardent spirits, which reduced him to a state of
great destituion, and then he took to thieving. Mr.
Datiies, the surgeon of the prison, stated that the deceased
had been attacked with a violent bowel complaint, and at
last with an immense abscess in his leg and thigh, which
reduced hin► very much. He had wine and brandy daily,
as well as anything he fancied to eat, but his broken con-
stitution could not bear up against the attack, His son is a
cripple in St. Andrew's workhouse, Holborn. The jury were
very well ratified with the treatment shown the deceased.
Verdict—" Natural death."

USE OF OPIUM AMONG THE CHINESE.--
The recent interdiction of this drug as an article of corn-
mt:rce by the Chinese authorities affords a palpable indica-
tion of their consciousness of its deleterious character,
notwithstanding their notorious eagerness to indulge in
the pleasing but momentary delirium which it excites. It
is a curious fact, that although the practice of opium
smoking is so general with the natives, it is considered by
the mercantile and trading classes so disreputable, that one
merchant or trader will not trust another with goods or money
if he know him to be addicted to it • and yet he himself
consumes, perhaps, ten times as much in the course of the
year as the very man whom he distrusts. Those who in-
dulge in it largely for six months are given up by their
friends as incorrigible gin-drinkers arc with us ; and it is
usual to sly to them, " Make your will, for your days Are
num
died after a twelvemonth'sT4sousandsbered." indulgence in.
PekininCantonawisaid to
have
it,
and the
Canton Gazette constantly teems with ciles in which it has
been the source of the most wretched poverty ,
and tne most
I atrocious crimes.

Van Amburgh is to proceed directly to St. Pe-
tersburg, the moment his engagement shall have ciPii:ed
in Paris. The treaty was signed on Monday bet":ieen him
and a Seeret:.ry of the Russian Embassy,
is to receive in St. Petersburg. 1 u a:an Amburgh
-- f:,^o rubles per nigbt.
p na, o t o
°F ',..ue ex ( . u f his own
privateTh e
f Emperorun d willc, ctc p;;y11:./ t