The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-28 00:00:00

THE GREAT WESTERN.

The following is a copy of a letter presented to Captain
Hosken by the passengers of the Great Western, on her
arrival at New York, the last day of May, after an unpre-
cedented run of thirteen days.
CAPTAIN HOSKEN (GREAT WESTERN).
" Great Western Steam-ship, May 31.
" Sir,—The passengers on board the Great Western,
during an unprecedented passage between the two great
continents of the world, beg to express their warmest con-
gratulations on the success of an enterprise which will tend
to cultivate that reciprocal feeling of good will so beneficial
to the peace and prosperity d nations.
" This voyage having been accomplished on the 13th
day, being the shortest voyage ever achieved to the west-
ward, after leaving Bristol for New York, during the
month of May, 1839, calls forth a feeling towards yourself,
whose uniform kindness and urbanity of manners has been
the common theme of approbation of the passengers
during this voyage.
" The passengers beg you will express to the officers,
and those under your command, their thanks for the at-
tentive manner in which their duty;has been performed.
" Wishing you every prosperity, and a succession of
rapid voyages,
" We are, Sir, yours most obediently,
" (Signed by the passengers. )"
" Great Western Steam-ship, June 1.
" Gentlemen,—ln behalf of the original proprietors, as
well as on the part of the immediate promoters of this un-
dertaking, I beg to thank you for your congratulations on
the success of an enterprise which ' will tend to cultivate
that reciprocal feeling of good will so beneficial to the peace
and prosperity of nations.'
" This the shortest passage to the westward ever
achieved,' having been concluded by such an expression of
good feeling, is to me cause for unmixed gratification, and
you may assure yourselves of my most anxious endeavours
to merit similar approbation.
" My chief officer, Mr. Matthews, on behalf of the offi-
cers, requests me to tender his best thanks for your ex.
approbation of the attentive manner in which their
duty has been performed.'
With every good wish, I have the honour to be, gen-
tlemen,

(Signed)

" Your obedient servant,
" JAMES HOSKEN."

FREAK.—On Tuesday morning a female was
placed at the bar, at the Manchester New Bailey, on a
charge of attempting to drive away one o Thor Majesty's
mail carts, which had been left standing near the Post
Office. On the charge being investigated, it appeared
that this Amazon had mounted the vehicle and driven it at
greatspeed up Market-street, when she was overtaken and
secured by the police ; but as she bad only done it to show
her skill in driving, and not with a felonious intent, sh
was dismissed, amidst uproars of laughter.
CAUTION TO CAB DRIVERS.—At Union-
hall on Wednesday James Dimes, the driver of cab No. 598,
was fined 5/. and costs for detaining some articles left in
his vehicle. The Magistrate, on inflicting the above fine,
remarked that in all cases of this description, where pro-
perty was left by mistake in vehicles and not either
restor3d to the owners or taken to the proper office, he
should put the full penalty upon those brought before him
for the offence.

ANOTHER EXPLOSION.--On Tuesday night,
the 7th instant, the steamer Buckeye burst her boilers
about five miles above Randolph. Six persons were killed,
and among them Charles Gretzinger and Thomas Rogers,
of Louisville, Prentiss, engineer, and two firemen ;
the name of the other we have not learned. Butler Ran-
dolph, mortally wounded ; Atcheson, dangerously
wounded ; Charles Starkey, clerk, wounded ; Jacob
Thompson, captain, ditto. We understand that lack of
water in the boilers was the cause of the catastrophe. The
wreck was towed up by the Sultana, and arrived at Port-
land last evening.—Louisville Advertiser.
THE WEATHER.—We observe from the Irish
and Scotch, as well as the English papers, that the rain
has been general throughout the kingdom. The beneficial
effect of this seasonable moisture is said to be visible every
where, in the improved appearance of vegetation.
TILE FIRST LANCASHIRE NEWSPAPER.—
There is still in existence a copy offEyres's Weekly Jour-
nal, or the Warrington Advertiser, said to be the first
newspaper published in the great county of Lancaster.
The copy alluded to, which is in the possession of a gen-
tleman residing in Latchford, is " No. 19," and it gives
the news from Tuesday, July 20th to Tuesday, July
27th, 1756. It was printed and published by Thomas
and William Eyres, of Warrington, and attached to
one corner is the halfpenny newspaper stamp of that
period. It measures twenty-two inches by fifteen inches,
which is divided into four pages of three columns each.
The whole being not quite so large as one of the pages of
the smallest Manchester newspapers of the present date.
Two rude wood engravings adorn the title page, one
representing a man on horseback—
"— The herald of a noisy world,

With spattered boots, strapped waist, and frczen locks,
News from all nations lumbering at his back."
The other, a ship in full sail. The first article in the
Warrington Advertiser consists of " Maxims extracted
from a book lately published, entitled Maxims, Charac-
ters, and Reflections, &c.,'" of which two of the maxims
will give a sufficient specimen—" As some poisonous
animals carry about themselves an antidote to their own
venom, so do most people for the offence they give by
slight, hatred, and contempt." " A thorough good New_
market jockey would have been a good Minister of State
if he had been trained for it." The second article is
devoted to Thursday's Post, which contains news from
Amsterdam to July 6, and from Paris to July 8. " Plan-
tation News" forms the next full head-line. The news
from Philadelphia bears the date of May 31st, and gives
certain particulars of the movement of the British army
in America. From Ireland is an account of the
further prorogation of the Irish Parliament, from
the 20th July to the 24th day of August, then
to meet at Dublin for the despatch of business.
Under the head " Scotland," i 3 announced the ar-
rival of two ships from the Greenland fishery, with seven
fish. From London is announced various foreign, army,
and naval operations, and then comes " Saturday's Post,"
bringing plantation news from Antigua so late as May the
11th. The next and last article gives the arrivals at
Liverpool during the week preceding the day of publica-
tion, which are as follow :—The Fanny, from Barbadoes ;
Tiger, Jamaica; Ogden, Jamaica; Jonathan, North Ca-
rolina; Stephen, Rotterdam ; Mary, Wexford; Maku-
ryuys, Amsterdam; Lady Alicia, ditto; Two Friends,
Wexford. No attention seems to have been paid to the
recording of local events, or to the general news of the
country. The whole paper being taken up with foreign
matters. At the bottom of the imprint it is announced
that " Advertisements are taken in," but none are inserted
in the number before us. In point of typography, the
paper is got up with great accuracy, and throughout
there does not appear to be a single literal—even so much
as a space or a letter out of place. Messrs. Eyres were
celebrated as printers, and from their office appeared the
works of Howard, the philanthropist, and the standard
publications which had their origin in the once-famed War-
rington A cademy. —Liverpool Journal.
BLACK CATTLE.—It is generally all-live:l that
black cattle are higher priced at present than they have
been since the termination of the French war. The corn•
plaint of dearth in horn and hummel stock met as at every,
step on Wednesday last, as will be seen by our market re-
port. Galloways in particular are unusually scarce.—
Scotch Paper.

Mr. Parker, who has been for some time in the
management of the free list at Drury Lane, takes his
benefit this evening, at the Haymarket theatre. His
attention and urbanity to the renters, and, indeed, to all
who have intercourse with him, are well known, and we
are sure all who know him will join with us in wishing
that ho may be no loser by the abrupt closing of the
theatre, in which his services are so justly appreciated.

TIME S.—Money continues easier both in and out of
the Stock Exchange. There was not much activity in
the Funds, but the apparent cessation for the present of
any action upon them on the part of the Bank led to a
slight further improvement. Consols left off at 934 to
for the opening. Bank Stock was 189 to 190. Exche-
quer Bills, 255. to 28s. premium.
At Bombay, it is stated, the " greatest panic" prevailed
in the Money Market in consequence of the " disastrous"
intelligence from Canton respecting the stoppage of the
opium trale. Money was so scarce, that bills were substi-
tuted for cash payments ; and credit was so strongly
affected, that bills of exchange could scarcely be sold even
at a great sacrifice.
Accounts from Surat, of May 1, state that the cotton
crop there and at Broach had yielded so far this year
25,000 bales, most of which had been shipped for Bombay.
The commercial intelligence from Canton by the over-
land India mail comes to the 10th of March. Some re-
ports had been in circulation of intentions on the part of
the Chinese to proceed to extremities against the British
shipping at Hong Kong, and five rafts were said to be pre-
paring with that view ; but, according to a letter from the
commander of one of the vessels lying there, no actual
demonstrations had occurred up to the 2d of March, beyond
the appearance of junks in greater numbers, which in-
terrupted communications, and prevented cnstomers
coming off so frequently, and the burning down of a
few grog-shops on shore resorted to by the British
sailors. The shipping, however, was about moving to
the outer waters about the south end of Lantao for
better security. The merchants at Canton had requested
the chief Superintendent, Mr. Elliott, not to move
her Majesty's sloop Larne from the station, which, so
fir as it depended on himself, had been acceded to ;
but he bad intimated, in answer to another representation,
that it was not his " intention to hoist the British flag at
Canton in the present posture of circumstances." In re-
ference to the execution of a Chinese suspected of trading
in opium in front of the British factory, as detailed on a
former occasion, it is admitted that the recurrence of such
an event, and the popular excitement among the Chinese
against foreigners in consequence, must be attended with
"extreme hazard" to lives and property, and the Superin-
tendent intimated that he would shortly lay before the
merchants an explanation of such proceedings as he had
taken for inducing the Governor to refrain for the future
from recourse to measures which in the end might render hints
responsible for some " terrible catastrophe." It was known
that a formal protest on the subject had been sent to the Vice.
roy of Canton, but no answer to it had been received at the
date. A notice had been issued by the Superintendent, warn.,
ing boats not duly licensed to leave the river without delay,
The market of Canton had become rather more favourable
for a few descriptions of cotton goods, such as long-cloths,
both gray and white ; but although these were in fair
demand, no advance upon the low prices prevailing had
been realized, nor was there any immediate prospect of
such being the case, as some considerable importations by
two newly arrived vessels had taken place at the time.
Some large sales of course cotton yarns, Nos. 13 to 24., of
an inferior quality, had been effected at prices varying with
quality from 23 to 25, which are described as " ruinously
low rates," but even this so far was an improvement, as
for some time previous it was almost impossible to make
sales at any price. For the better kinds of cotton fabrics
there was little or no demand, and stocks were heavy. In
woollens some activity was observable, although it is stated
the " demand was not brisk," and prices remained without
alteration.

POST..---The demand for money was said to have been
less urgent again to-day, and the impression that such was
the case, this impression being pretty general, had perhaps
the effect, for the moment, of really making it so.
We are, nevertheless, not prepared to assert that the actual
circumstances of the market have undergone any change
of importance. Loans for the day have been obtained ,
sufficiently easy terms, but this arises chiefly from the cieoa-
sional transfer of balances from the great money dealers to
the private bankers at a low rate of interest, but which are
reimbursable at the shortest notice. It had been very cur-
rently stated that the Bank Directors, at their weekly Court,
held this morning, would determine upon a further ad.
vance in their rates of interest and discount, but this did
not turn out to be correct, no fresh announcement to that
effect having made its appearance. We believe, however.
that a feeling prevails in the best-informed quarters that
more stringent measures will, after all, become necessary
in order to restore the equilibrium of the exchanges. We
admit, indeed, that we arc among those who had rather
expected, from all that we have heard, that they might
have been more immediate than they have.
The news of hostilities having at last -commenced be.
twecn the Turks and the Egyptians; 1.9 communicated in
the journals, is fully confirmed i.,i the letters received by
our leading commercial houses, and it is feared that serious
difficulties may ensue; but this consideration does not ap-
pear to have had so much weight at the Stock Exchange
as the more favourable prospects of the money market.
The public securities, both English and foreign, have beell
generally done at higher prices.