The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-31 00:00:00

i PRACTICAL REFUTATION OF
i
CORN-LAW FALACIES.

The stupid fallacies invented by the friends of mono-
poly to delude the working classes, receive a practical
and unanswerable refutation by the existing state of
things. One of these fallacies was, that dear bread
caused high wages. Of the folly of this assertion the
working men are now too well convinced ; for not
a man of them is receiving a penny more of wages
in consequence of the dearness of bread, whilst
great numbers are altogether out of emp'oy-
ment owing to the bad state of trade produced in a
considerable measure by the Corn-law. Another fallacy
was, that the farmers, if they got more for their corn,
could buy more manufactured goods--so that it was
the interest of the manufacturer to pay a high price
fibr his corn. To this there is a three-fold answer—
first, that the extra price for corn goes not to the
farmer, but in general, and always in the long run, to
the landlord ; second, that the farmer is a desperately
bad customer if the manufacturer has to furnish him
with the means of buying his own goods ; and third,
that even if the farmer should be able to buy more ma-
nufactured goods from a high price of corn all other
classes are able to buy less ; and it happens that the
other classes cesiderably outnumber the farmers. S. o
that this is wretched arithmetic, and wretched special
pleading. Another fallacy, evincing the most amazing
ignorance consisted in the assertion that England could
do very well without her foreign trade, and that
that trade was rather a loss than a gain ! The
manufacturers and their workmen are now smarting
under the bitter practical disproof of this preposter-
ous error. The mere suspension of demand from
one ,a the nations among our many foreign cus-
tomeWhas thrown thousands of workmen out of bread.
What, then, would be the ruin and desolation that would
follow the loss of our entire export trade, amounting to
Fifty Millions sterling a-year ! Another fallacy was, that
England could not compete in manufacturing with those
countries where labour was so much cheaper, and she
might as well, therefore, give up the attempt at once.
The wiseacres who are of this opinion would of course ad-
vise our manufacturer and workmen who produce the
fifty millions of goods which we export, to lie down and
die. For our parts, we should like at least to give the
poor fellows one chance for their lives, and that would
be by giving them access to cheaper food, and EQUAL-
ISING the price of food to them and to their foreign
competitors. if the alleged inability to compete with
foreigners really exist, it is owing to that very system of
restrictive Corn-laws which the fallacy-mongers up
hold."—Leeds Mercury.

SHERIFF'S COURT.-(THIS DAY.

MADELL V. GRANT.
The plaintiff in this case was J. Madell, a dealer in
precious metals, residing at 48, Sutton-street, St. John-
street-road, Clerkenwell, and the defendant was Win.
Grant, a watchmaker residing at Gosport, Portsea.
The action was brought to recover the sum of 6!. 55., a
balance of account on a transaction alleged to have taken
place on the 29th July last. The defence was that no
such transaction had taken place.
Mr. BATLEY stated the case for the plaintiff, and
called
Robert Clare, who stated he was a commission agent,
and travelled for the plaintiff—he called at the defend-
ant's house, in Gosport, on the 29th of July, and sold
him two gold watches for ten guineas, and two d"zen
metal keys for five shillings, in return for which he took
old gold to the value of 4/. l Os., and leaving a balance
of 6!. .ss. due to the plaintiff, as whose agent witness
was acting, and who was present during part of the
transaction.

On his cross-examination he said he had likewise
sold two gold watches and two dozen metal keys to the
defendant on the 2d of July, but that was a previous
transaction, and had been settled ; the amount also was
different. A letter had been written by the plaintiff to
the defendant, relating to the first transaction, but wit-
ness had told defendant that it was a mistake. Could
not recollect the exact day, but it was the twenty-
something. Could not recollect the time of day,
nor whether it was wet or dry, nor could he tell
the name of persons who had been called in to value
the gold. On both occasions he had gone to Gosport
from Godalming.
The Attorney for the defendant denied that any
transaction had taken place between the parties,
except the one on the 2d of July, which had been settled.
A letter was here put in from the plaintiff to the defend-
ant, demanding a balance of 4/. Bs. 2d. on the transaction,
of the 2d July—and when the defendant wrote request-
ing an explanation the answer was the writ in the pre-
sent action, claiming a sum of 121., which was a larger
sum than could be claimed, even if the defendant had
given no gold on account. He then called
John Perry Grant, the defendant's son, who managed
the business for his father, was never absent from
home during the month of July. Was in the
shop constantly during the hours of business ;
recollects the transaction of the 2d July ; recollects the
29th of July ; it was on a Monday ; was never absent
from the shop the whole day. Clare never was there
during the day. Could not have been there without
witness knowing of it. No watches were purchased of
him or of the plaintiff except on the 2d of July.
The UNDER-SHERIFF summed up, and
The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for 6/..h5.,
the amount claimed.

The verdict appeared to excite some surprise among
,he persons present in Court.

A CHRISTMAS DAINTY.—We have lately put
ou record several curiosities of the season, for the infor-
mation and amusement of our readers, and we have bad
the opportunity of witnessing another, which we deem
equally worthy of notice. It is a Christmas pie,. in-
tended to grace the table at the Anniversary of the
Commercial Travelle-s' Society, to be held on the 28th
inst., at the London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill. Its
circumference is six feet and four inches. It is eleven
inches deep, and weighs five stone and five pounds. It
contains in its capacious interior two geese, two turkeys,
four fowls, a brace of pheasants and also of grouse, two
hares, two rabbi ts,three tongues, with the usual substratum
of beef-steaks, &c. It is surmounted with a noble swan,
and elegantly ornamented with trellis-work of pastry.
This tit-bit is from the cuisine of Mr. Holmes, of the
King's Arms Inn of this town, and, we have no doubt
that it will prove worthy of the occasion, and add to his
annually increasing reputation as one of the caterers for
that interesting festival.—Kendal Illercuiy.
TAPRAG OR RAGA LT ACT.—Mr. Jopling, the
worthy steward of the Earl of Burlington's works in
Kirkby Ireleth, has adopted the following plan to k•-cp
the men from cock-fighting and drunkenness. Should
a man lose one or more days in these sports, Mr. Jop-
ling obliges him to work as many days as he has lost, for
which he receives no pay, but his earnings go to find
hooks, pens, ink, and paper for a night school, which is
open for young people gratis who wish to improve them-
selves. Those who resist this regulation are at liberty
to leave Mr. Jopling's employ. It constitutes a part
and parcel -of their agreement, and they cannot complain
of being taken in. The men think it a great disgrace to
come under the operation of the above law, and have
named it the Tafrag or Ragalt Act.—Kencial dlielcury.
Three thousand tickets for the Anti-Corn-law
meeting, the Manchester Times states, have already
been sold, and no more are to be issued till it can be
ascertained what additional accommodation can be had
by the erection of a gallery. Persons disappointed had
better secure tickets for the second evening, the arrange-
ments for which are under the direction of the Manches-
ter Operative Anti-Corn-law Association, as many of
the principal speakers at the first meeting will be pre-
sent at tho second. Twenty-one Members of Parlia-
ment have already accepted the invitation to the great
Convention.

SEIZURE OF SPHIrTs.--Wednesday last, in-
formation having been lodged with the Excise, that a
spirit dealer in town, to the injury of his creditors, was
sending off a quantity of spirits to various other spirit
dealers, Messrs. Pearson, Headley, and Miller, of the
Excise, immediately instituted a search, and recovered
in one place 30 gallons, in another 26, in another 50,
and in another 20, in all 126, which they seized and
conveyed to the Excise store. The spirits were con-
cealed in back courts, in bed-rooms, dungsteads, &c.
The penalty for receiving spirits without a permit is, by
the Act, 2001., with forfeiture of spirits.—Paisley Ad-
vertiser.

We know of but two or three clergymen who
have advocated a repeal of the Corn-laws, considering
themselves bound so to do as Christian Ministers. If
the parsons will turn politicians, here is a legitimate
subject for them, one on which they may preach hourly,
and with great advantage to their flocks ; but we fear
that the tithe-receivers will be in no haste to take up
the cause of the bread-taxed millions. Let them re-
main silent on this all-important topic, while they agi-
tate for Protestant ascendancy, while they vociferate for
the repeal of the Catholic Emancipation Act, and while
they anathematize the promoters of national education,
and the result may be, that the farmers and the manu-
facturers may come to an understanding on the question
of the Corn-laws which will not exactly please the par-
sons, namely, to procure the abolition of tithes and Corn-
laws together, which would be by no means an inequi-
table adjustment. The question is, shall the people be
starved or not i)—Devonport Independent.
EXEMPLARY HONESTY.—On Saturday even-
ing last, the wife of an industrious man, named Richard
Price, of the Waen, Bettws, Montgomeryshire, who
attends Shrewsbury market with fowls, &e., lost her
purse, containing five sovereigns, two half sovereigns,
and 14s. 6d. in silver, on Pride Hill, in Shrewsbury,
and had the same proclaimed by the town crier, with
the offer of half-a-Avereign reward for its restoration.
Fortunately, the purse was picked up by a little boy,
the son of Samuel Heighway, a shoemaker, living near
St. Mary's Church, who with a feeling of honour and
honesty that does him the highest credit, immediately
on hearing that the loss of a purse had been proclaimed,
went to the crier with the purse and its contents that
his son bad picked up, and placed the same in the
crier's hands to be restored to the rightful owner,

VENING EDITION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn,—l regret to find that a charge characterised
by so much mildness, and equally worthy of the humane
man and upright Judge, as that of Lord Justice
Tindal at Monmouth, should contain even one pas-
sage calling for reprehension. His Lordship's refe-
rence to the Newport riots, and the means of pre-
venting such outbreaks for the future, not only assigns
a wrong cause and a fallacious remedy, but has a
tendency to give the English public an erroneous
view of the religious state of the Principality, and to
induce them to conclude that there is really a necessity
for what some papers represent as a panacea for all
social evils—" MORE CHURCHES." NOVV, Sir, it IS
a well-estab;ished fact that the people of Wales
are eminently a religious people, and I will venture
to add that even the districts recently disturbed, are
better provided with the means of religious instruc-
tion than most of our English agricultural dis-
tricts. The same observation holds good with respect
to other parts of Wales. It must be recollected, too,
that we owe this not to Government patronage, not to
Parliamentary aids, but to the voluntary system. There
is scarcely an employer of large bodies of men in the
Principality, who has been connected with the country
any length of time who will not (be his politics or re-
ligion what they may) freely acknowledge that to the
labours of these Dissenters during the past 70 years, they
owe the rescue of the great body of the population from
that half civilised state in which it had existed from the
period of the Reformation. One remark as a proof
that the religious state of \Vales is such as I have
described it. In the country parts "to profess," i. e.
to belong to some religious sect, is the rule : not to
do this marks a man as something distinct from, and
perhaps not so good as the generality. In this, as in
some other respects, Wales and Scotland closely re-
semble each other. As to sound religious instruction—
every Welsh congregation has annexed to it a Sunday
school, in which not only children, but adults are fre-
quently found. Instruction is given in singing, a Cate-
chism, and, above all, in the Bible, accompanied by
expositions. The carrying out of this instruction, the
after-reading of the Welsh (and they are a reading
people) is altogether religious, for more than nine-
tenths of the books in the language are religious
works. Well who does not see that if the means of
religious instruction are to prevent riots, the Mon-
mouthshire outbreak could never have taken place ?
The great preventative against such occurrences—the
great want of the Welsh, is not CHURCHES but
SCHOOLS. Many a Welshman, who may be strongly
impressed with the importance of religion and obe-
dience to its duties, may think that one of his reli-
gious duties is to uphold the Charter. It is evident
then that to complete the instruction of the man
something is wanted. What is it in this particular
case ? It is evidently the secular not religious portion
of instruction. The latter may safely be left tp those who
nave so well cared for it in past periods. The religious
spirit of the Principality will, as it has done, provide the
means of spiritual instruction for its inhabitants. The
population of Wales require not merely motives to good
principles, but to be shown how those principles are to
be put into operation so as to benefit themselves and
their country—not only to be told to be good—but to
have that good pointed out to them. The cry for
" more churches"Ls, looking to the feelings of the Welsh
with respect to the Establishment, absurd. More
churches ! in a country where many of the present pa-
rish churches are very sparing,:y occupied, and where
eight-tenths of the population are Dissenters! A more
effective mode of rendering deeper still the irritation
which is said to exist in some parts of the Principality
could not be devised than that of erecting or
aiding in any way the erection of churches. The English
Church is as anti-national in Wales as it is in Ireland.
And were it possible to raise churches so that a
steeple-house should crown every hill and grace every
valley of Wales—still this would be no provision for the
religious wants of the Welsh, for they are a people
whose very genius, like that of the Scotch, estranges
them from its forms and ceremonies. Much misrepresen-
tation has gone abroad on the subject of Wales and
Welsh Chartism. Let Governments beware of listen-
ing to such misrepresentations. Some of them have
their origin in party spirit—others in the incapacity,
from ignorance of the language, &c., of the country, of
those who take upon themselves to speculate on the
causes of its present disturbed state.

Let the matter be well investigated, and these specu-
lators will be proved to be in error.
I am, Sir, /our's, &c.
AB GOMER.

London, December 28, 1839.

THE Coax-Laws.—Mr. Sidney Smith, the
celebrated Anti• Cora-law lecturer, has visited Hudders-
field this week, for the purpose of delivering two lec-
tures on the Corn-laws. The first lecture was delivered
on Thursday evening, in the Philosophical Hall, to a
numerous audience.

A GALLANT MASTER.—A respectable elderly
farmer in the parish of Chirk, was recently fined in the
sum of five shillings and expenses, for beating one of
his female servants with a stick. It appears, that in
consequence of the girl not going about some part of
her duties with that alacrity her gallant master expectA
she would, the ashen plant was called in and appliel to
her shoulders, and the result was as given Above.—
Caernarvon Herald.

FATAL ACCIDENT.—As Captain Badeock, of
the Adelaide, of Cork, lying at Pillgwenlly, was going on
board on Monday evening last, the hatches being opal,
he accidentally fell into the hold, received serious in-
juries, and, we regret to add, expired on the following
d a y.—lferlin.

COAL-PIT ACCIDENT.--On Friday morning
last, Wm. Mason, a coal miner, was shockingly injured
by a fall of earth whilst at work in one of the pits of
Jesse Ainsworth, Esq., Pitbank, Greenacres Moor.
The poor man died whilst being conveyed to his home
at Lower Moor. He was forty-four years of age, and
was a widower, and has left four children. On Frid..y
the Coroner's inquest was held at the Black Swan Inn.
Greenacres Moor. Verdict—" Accidental death."—
Aranchestcr Advertiser.

RES tIitRECTIO NISTS.—A disgusting and rather
novel scene took place at Aveton Gifford on Tuesday
last. It appears that about two years ago a poor man,
named Wilkie, was buried at Aveton Gifford. Not
many days afterwards some relative of the old man ob-
served a very considerable shrinking of the grave,
which was pointed out to others, and a stor' becoming
very prevalent in the village that poor old John Wil-
kie's body had been snatched, the friends insisted upon
having the grave opened. Tke sexton attended ac-
cordingly and when they got down as far as the lid
of the coffin, the old man's friends had no wi•ii to have
the coffin opened as they were satisfied all was
right; and nothing more was said about poor old Joint
Wilkie until Wednesday last, the 18th inst. On the
evening of that day eighteen jolly fellows met at the
Royal Victoria Inn, in the village, to give the little land-
lord the benefit of an opening supper. After supper,
when the grog was flowing freely around, the
party amused themselves by passing their joker
very freely on a young man called Macey (a ma-
son by trade, and who worships at the shrine of
Bacchus seven days out of the week). Macey threat-
ened some of them with a split if they did not desist.
He was told by the party to say his worst, if be knew
any thing. Consequently he charged three men of the
party with being body snatchers, whose names are
Saunders, Frost and Ruth, also that Jordan (the cele-
brated wrestler) came from Plymouth after the body
and that he, Macey, held the horse, and had one shilling
for his trouble, while the others procured the body ;
and he believed it to be the body of poor old John
Wilkie. This was too good a story to be let drop by
the village gossipers ; and in a day or two the story
began to be generally believed, and to wear a serious
aspect. A respectable party waited on the Rev. Mr.
Vaughan, the Vicar, who gave orders that the grave
should be opened, to see if poor old John was there or
not. In the mean time, the Rev. Gentleman's domes-
tics had orders to hold no communication with Frost,
who is the Rev. Gentleman's gardener ; another gentle-
man had written to Saunders (who is a carpev ter)
requesting he would clear up his character before be
came to his house to work again. Ruth, who is the
sexton, was threatened with excommunication if this
story proved to be true. Tuesday last was the day
appointed for opening the grave. The Vicar appointed
four respectable farmers to attend on whose veracity he
could depend ; and at twelve o'clock, the time app'
pointed, all the rag-tag and bob-tail of the village bad
asrcmbled in the yard to await the result. Such was
the crowding round the grave that the men had great
difficulty in throwing out the earth. The lid of the
coffin was at length opened, and there lay poor old
John Wilkie as straight as they had put him in. The
abuse that ensued--the crimination and recrimination of
the accused and the accusers—baffies all description.,
The sequel of the story turns out to be, that the men
are smugglers—that on the night in question Jor:faa
came to Aveton Gifford after a couple of tubs. Macey
was very inquisitive, and wanted to know what it was in
the sack—and, merely to put him on a wrong scent,they
told bins it was a dead body. Macey believed it, and
kept it a secret until Wednesday last, when he split ao
stated.-11restern Times.

EXTRAORDINARY TEMPERATURE.--It ap•
pears by some meteorological tables, which have been
published, that the 24th of December, of the present
3 ear, was only ten degrees colder than the 24th of June.
The thermometer out of doors remained at 50, the day
preceding Christmas.dly. The heavy rains have apain
produced floods, as high as they were in November.
The galesof wind on Monday and Tuesday were severely
felt on all our coasts, and several wrecks have taken
place at Harwich and Dartmouth. On Saturday a
sharp frost set in, and there is now a prospect of some
real winter weather.

We regret to hear that typhus fever is very pre-
valent in the neighbourhood of West-bridge and Wharf-
s t,eet. The miserable state of the weather acting upon
the system of the numerous poor located in these quar-
ters, coupled with their distress, has. no doubt, supc:.
induced the complaint.—Leicester Chronicle