The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-17 00:00:00

THE FUN, LONDON, TURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, IHI7

PROFESSOR WILSON.

(From the Standard.)
We rejoice to be able to contradict the report of the in-
disposition of this great and amiable man, upon the best
possible authority—his own. The following touching and
beautiful extract from a letter received by one of the Pro•
fessor's friends this morning has been handed to us, with
permission to gratify all who honour worth and genius by
its publication :
" It pleased God, on the 29th of March, to visit me with
the severest calamity that can befall one of his creatures,
in the death of my wife, with whom I had lived in love for
twenty-six years ; and since that event, till about a fort-
night ago, I lived with my family, two sons and three
daughters, dutiful and affectionate, in a secluded house near
Roslin. lam now in Edinburgh ; and early in November
hope to resume my daily duties in the University.
" I have many blessings for which I am humbly thankful
to the Almighty ; and though I have not borne ray afflie_
tion ,so well, or better than I have done, yet I have
borne it with submission and resignation ; and feel that,
though this world is darkened to me, I may be able yet
to exert such faculties, humble as they are, which God has
given me. if not to the benefit, not to the detriment of my
fellow mortals.

# # # 0 *
" I am, Sir, your's sincerely,
"JOHN WILSON.
" 6, Gloucester placo, Edinburgh, Oct. 12, 1237."

AMERICAN DEBT.

In the debate on the Sub-Treasury scheme in the Senate
Mr. King, the senator for Georgia, stated as the result of
his calculations, that instead of the 30,000,000, which, ac-
cording to the Message of the President to Congress, was
the amount of debt to England, the debt actually owing
was not less than 110,000,000 dols. There is, of course,
considerable difficulty in ascertaining with anything like pre-
cision the real amount of this balance, but that it greatly
exceeds that off cally assumed over the water, and currently
circulated here previously by parties concerned in the Ame-
rican trade, has been stated on more than one occasion.
The fact is—and in that way the error may be partly ac-
counted for—that the balance of trade between the United
States and Great Britain has alone been consulted, and
even that there is reason to believe has been construed in
t mode to exhibit the most favourable aspect possible.
To arrive at correct conclusions with reference to the
total of that balance, it is necessary to take into con-
sideration the general balance of trade against America
in her traffic with all parts of the world, a very large
proportion of which has been or is yet to be liquidated
through the means of credits opened in this country.
There can be little question that in this way no small por-
t )n of the adverse balances with China, Brazil, Spain,
Cuba, France, &c., have been paid. Nor is it the balances
of one year only that constitute the whole of the debt, for
it must he remembered that these balances have been ac-
cumulating year after year. From 1824 to 1830, both in-
clusive, the imports and exports of the United States pretty
nearly adjusted each other, with but a slight difference upon
the gross sum of a few millions of dollars on the side of
the imports. But from the last-mentioned year imports
took a decided start in excess, being in 1831 upwards of
20,000,000 dollars over the exports, and increasing until in
1836 they were upwards of 61,000,000 dollars above, on
general balance. Even with respect to Great Britain and
its colonial possessions, the East Indies included, one year's
balance alone for 1836, according to the Washington offi-
cial accounts made up to the 30th of September, was, in
round numbers, 21,500,000 dollars, from which may be in-
ferred the looseness of the data upon which the Pre-
sident's estimate must have been constructed. There
are certain countries where, from the state of credit as
well as traffic, it may be assumed that American transac-
tions where naaney balances resulted could only be
carried on by open credits, or valuing for the differ-
ences upon England, such, for example, as China, where
the last year exhibits a balance of 6,000,000 dollars, Brazil
of 4,000,000 dollars, and Cuba of 6,000,000 dollars, against
the United States. But, in fact, the question of the real
amount of the debt to this country would seem to be, ex-
cepting for the gratification of curiosity, a matter of very
little interest, so far as relates to its probable satisfaction
now or hereafter. A New York paper, lately received,
and itis not the only one broaching the like sentiments,
gruvely spunges off the whole score by the following sum-
mary process :—" Of the great foreign debt," it says, "due
by our merchants to Europe on the 17th of March last,
there are not 2,000,000 of it paid, and probably never
will be. The failures of 500 merchants here, and 100
across the water, embracing some of the heaviest houses,
will liquidate each other's debts without specie or produce.
Bankruptcy is a capital remittance to pay bad debts with.
Each day shows the probability that not ten cents
will ever be paid in the average on the debts of
1836. Why so ? Because their assets were valued in
prices, which have since declined not only 50, 60,
and 70 per cent., but they have disappeared in a great
many instances." However questionable may be the mo-
rality of some part of this reasoning, the facts, it is to be
feared, are but too well founded ; for the stocks, shares,
land and building lots, the scrip of which circulated from
hand to band, and advanced to 500 or 1,000 premium, in
the same manner, but in greater degree, as here during
the mania of 1825 with South American mines and other
schemes, " have dissppeared," and are no longer found
quoted in a great many instances among current values even
of first cost and prices. The same paper, reasoning from
the Treasury Report, by which it would appear that the
imports and exports of specie since May last nearly ba-
lanced each other, arrives at the conclusion that all the
specie existing in the country then still remained there,
and even a greater quantity. It was acknowledged in the
Treasury Report that the returns must be considered
as incomplete, since specie was both importe4 and ex-
ported without being entered. The writer asserts, that of
the 3,700,000 dollars officially stated as the exports of
specie since the 11th of May, 3,000,000 dollars were for
account of the dividends due upon States and bank stocks
and railroad loans due in Europe on the Ist of July, of
which the amount is estimated to exceed 53,500,000 dols.,
hearing six per cent. interest, exclusive of the bonds ; the
odd 700,000 dols. he supposes were sent on account of the
Browns, and other " solvent " houses. " The only fund,
therefore," he proceeds, " upon which our importers could
draw was the export of produce, and this export is only
equal to meet the imports for the present year." The
same paper sums up, that " from these data it appears
that the bankrupt portion of our foreign trade can never
reconstruct itself. The healthy trade, begun on a new
system, is gradually widening its circulation of action
every day." The " healthy trade" is bottomed, of course,
upon capital created by this robbery of the foreign cre-
ditor. It is occasionally attempted to justify this contempt
of the obligations of common honesty by establishing what
it is wished to be considered a fair set off in the im-
bmyentshee pßrorfiittissbwmhiachnuafareeturaesrssumfreedm tothihsaevxeeesbseeenf mthaedier
imports into the United States. It is no secret, however,
upon what a low scale of profit the operations of all the
principal manufactures are conducted in this country,
and that 15 or 20 per cent. are usually accounted fair an-
nual returns for capital sunk in them, although in the work-
ing, labour and ingenuity are required of a much superior
order to that which the cultivation of raw materials de-
mands. To speak of cotton fabrics only, the export to
the United States has not perhaps averaged for the last
four years above 2,000,000 sterling per annum, upon which
the profits could not have been very considerable. In view
of those realized by the American cotton planter the as-
sumption, indeed, is absurd enough. It is asserted in Man-
chester, by persons well informed, that by the single import
and consumption of American raw cotton here the United
States are benefitted to a not less extent than 4,000,0001.
annually in the profits upon production alone. It is gene-
rally understood that cotton can be grown with advantage
at 5 cents., say 2d. per pound, in the States ; freight,
shipping, charges, insurance, &c., are estimated at d. per
pound more, but say ld., and cotton would be" laid down,"
as the term is, in Liverpool, at 3d. per pound. The
prices averaged for all descriptions will not probably have
fallen short of 7d. per pound in that market for several
years past, and if the import be taken at an average of
250,000,0001 b. yearly, it will be seen that the Manchester
gross calculation of profit will not be far short of the mark.
The rate of profit made by these people, therefore, who so
modestly complain of the exorbitant gains of others, appears
to average not less than 100 per cent. upon the cultivation
of raw cotton.—Tines.

Lord John Russell and his lady have left Endsleigh
for Brighton, to pay their respects to her Majesty. They
dined and slept on Monday night at Mount Boone, the re-
sidence of Colonel Seale, M.P., and passed over the Dart,
in the floating bridge, the next day, under a salute of cannon
from the town and a merry peal of bells, accompanied by
the best wishes of the inhabitants of Dartmouth. On
Tuesday they arrived at Mamhead, the seat of Sir Robert
Newman, whence they departed for Bowood, the seat of
Lord Lansdowne, near Bath.
TORT TRUTH.—We have been much amused at a
paragraph which has been trumpeted forth by the Tory
Journals of the district, stating that the Hon. H. T. Lid-
dell voted, at the late North Durham election, for his op-
ponents, Mr. Lambton and Sir W. Chaytor, and lauding
the Hon. Gentleman for great liberality in so doing. How
far such conduct would have merited the praises bestowed
upon it, it is not our present object to inquire, though we
may observe in passing that we do not see why a candidate
should be commended for voting contrary to his principles
more than any other elector ; but it proves, as we ex-
pected, that the whole story is a fabrication. We have
made inquiry respecting it, and we find that Mr. Liddell
voted at Whickham, a plumper for himself I—Newcastle
Journal.

THE JUDGES' CHAMBERS.—The old-fashioned,
ill-conditioned, and inconvenient apartments in Sergeant's
Inn, Chancery-lane, where, time out of mind, those vene-
rable functionaries, the Judges of the land, have performed
various. of their important duties, have now ceased to exist,
and in their stead a handsome and spacious building has
been erected on a part of the Rolls' Chapel garden looking
towards Clifford's Idn. The approach is through an avenue
from Clifford's Inn, which leads by a flight of stone steps to
the raised terrace on which the building stands. The build-
ing consists of only two floors, with a basement range of
rooms below the terrace. In the centre is a door leading to
the ;several chambers appointed for the respective Lord
Chief Justices of the King's Bench and the Common Pleas,
and the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer ; to the right
of the centre it the entrance to the chambers of the Barons
of the Exchequer, and beyond that those for the puisne
Judges of the Common Pleas. The Judges of the King's
Bench have their chambers assigned at the left or western
angle of the building. The building has only recently
been completed, but has already been brought into occupa-
tion for the transaction of chamber business on the Queen's
Bench and Common Pleas departments. Some minor ar-
rangements in the different chambers still remain to be
made, but these there is ample time for perfecting before
the commencement of next Term, when it is to be ex-
pected that the Judges of the land will find themselves ac-
commodated in a manner suitable to their high stations and
.important duties.

SPEECH OF JOHN JOHNSON, ESQ
OF DERBY, AT THE TORY DINNER AT CHES
TERFIELD, ON THE 10TH.

(From the North Derbyshire Chronicle.)
Mr. JOHNSON (of Derby), having been called upon by
the Chairman, rose to give the next toast. (In consequence
of the parenthetical style of Mr. Johnson, and the innu-
merable repetitions his speech contained, it would have
been impossible for Mephistopheles himself to have reported
it verbatim ; but we shall endeavour to connect the remarks
we were enabled to note down as well as we can. It is
due, however, to Mr. Johnson to state, that he can, when
in a proper mood, forget parenthetical and superfluous re-
petitions.) As soon as the applause had subsided, he said—
Mr. Chairman, and electors of North Derbyshire, and those
who are not electors of Derbyshire,—I little thought in the
early part of this festive evening, I should be called
upon to give a toast ; but as the honour has been im-
posed upon me, I will attempt to do justice to a toast
with which, from the bottom of my heart, I entertain a
sympathetic affection.—(Cheers.) I am comparatively
a stranger—known only to a few of those present—yet
I do stand forward in a public capacity—in that capa-
city which my opponents arrogate to themselves. I '
stand forward here as the friend of the people—(loud
cheers)—as the anxious and most determined supporter
of our glorious Constitution, which has been banded
down to us by our forefathers—that glorious Constitution
not equalled in the world, but setting an example to the
world.—(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I would not mention
a man with anything like a bad feeliing : I would not pro-
claim a name with any hostile intent ; but perhaps I am
more known among you by the mere fact, that William
Evans has called me the Black Doctor from Derby.—
(Loud laughter and cheers.) Mr. Chairman, I could
never have thought that I had that cognomen—l could
never for one moment have imagined that I should have
been here as the person I am represented to be.—(Hear,
and Laughter.) When I came here, I spoke not of
William Evans—l came here a free and voluntary agent,
to advocate the cause, not of a Tory—not of George Ark-
wright—but to advocate that cause which I believe from the
bottom of my heart to be the safeguard and protection of
our glorious Constitution.—(Vociferous cheers.) I came
not here to advocate the cause of Toryism ; bat I came to
advocate what 1 love—what I have been brought up to
venerate and esteem—the cause of the people of England
—(Continued cheers)—although humble as I am—although
sneered at as I have been—and although condemned and
called the Black Doctor from Derby.—(Loud cheers.)
Gentlemen, I tell you I have not as much wealth—not per-
haps as much station ; yet I do think I have as much po-
litical consistency—as much of political conduct—as much
feeling for my fellow-men, even as William Evans.—
(Cheers) Gentlemen, who is the man that impugns me ?
—(Cheers.) Who is the man that dares to cast upon John
Johnson of Derby anything like calumny ?—(Cheers and
laughter.) It is the man brought up and who glories in
the name of corruption. He came out as a Tory, and
bought the voters of East Retford.—(Vociferous cheers.)
And, gentlemen, he is the man who has since repented of
his sins.—(Laughter.) When he left East Retford as a
Tory, he repented of his sins ; and William Evans, Esq. of
Allestree-hall, under the common name of Whig, in Lei-
cester, after he had repented of his sins, spent more money
than in East Retford ! Gentlemen, William Evans,
Esq., of Allestree-hall—(Laughter)—is a man much to be
respected ; I acknowledge him to be a man of high moral
attainments. I abominate the idea that a man may be a
good politician and a bad private character ; but a man may
be a good private character who is a wretched and common-
place politician : and I would not call upon Wiliam
Evans to sacrifice his moral character for that of a
wretched politician.—(Loud and continued laughter.)
But I will show you a man with as much moral character.
I do not call upon you as lordlings, but as men who have
understandings; and I tell you that the man who has li-
belled you—the man who has told you you are no more
than prostitutes to power—(Cheers)—the man who has
fame still not departed from him—who is nothing more
than the hereditary descendant of Tom Paine and Voltaire,
and that man is Thomas Gisborne.—(Vociferous cheering.)
If I were disposed to indulge in Wirie doctrines, I could
tell you in the name of history, that Whig doctrines and
Whig principles never can serve this country : they are
altogether incompatible with the spirit and character of
our glorious Constitution.—(Cheers.) When you tell me
that a candidate in the sixteenth century has done much in
Africa—(Here we are at fault : we lost the conclusion of
the sentence, and the reader must therefore take up the
sense as well as he can.) That Whig candidate is no
more than a stripling in the House of Devonshire—a man
who has presumed, and thought proper to libel you—a
man who receives his 8,0001. a year has told you you arc
illiterate ; he has told you that you are fools—(Cheers
and laughter) ; he has told you that you are not worthy of
being invested with those characters which the Constitu-
tion requires.—(Cheers.) He says, I respect the squire,
and I respect the clergyman ; but the one is a bigot, and
the other a fool.—(Continued cheers and laughter.) Gen-
tlemen, who's George Cavendish;'—(Cheers.) I ask you
again, who's George Cavendish ?—( A voice in the assem-
bly, " He's a muck-worm !" followed by a cry of " Order.")
Is there anything in the name of Cavendish—is there any-
thing they have done which ought to secure for them any
more than in acknowledgment to the right of 60,000/. in
the county ? He ought to possess something like a fair
mind in that connty. Does George Cavendish represent
that ? Does he ?—(Loud cheers.) I can tell you, and so
help me God I do no injustice to that young man, that
when he was delivering his speech at Bakewell, I had a
printed bill in my hand, every word of which he repeated
ad literatim.—(Laughter.) Every word printed in his
bills, so G. Cavendish rehearsed. Friends ! George Caven-
dish is a stripling—(Laughter)—he's a baby—(Laughter)
—he's a child--(Laughter)—he's a perfect baby, I tell
you, in political knowledge, and what proves it ? Why,
that George C ivendish has thought proper to tell the squires
of Derbyshire that they are illiterate—men who have done
more for the people of England than any other. 11Ien who
have descended from those teen who have wrested from Po-
pish tyrants their Protestant priei'eges—(Cheers)—who have
descended from those ancestors who have done more, fought
more, to maintain the liberties of this country, and at this
moment are stepping between the proud demagogue of the
city and the aristocrat of the palace.—(Continued cheers.)
Who would be called upon if a crisis were to come, similar
to the French Revolution ? Who would be called upon to
defend the proud house of Cavendish and the aristocracy of
this country, but those men who have been maligned in the
name of squires ?—(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I hate and
detest the chicanery—l detest that humbug which young
Cavendish has thought proper to bring forward.—(Cheers.)
How anxious were our opponents that young men and
maidens who sell an ounbe of worsted, or a pound of bacon,
should have a vote ! Let them have their vote—they ought
to have their vote ; yet the moment it is placed before them,
the man who possesses 2,000/. in the county cries, " Oh
Lord I don't give them a vote, but give it to them who
has 20/: in balls of cotton."—(Laughter.) [Mr. John-
son made a few more remarks on the same subject,
which we did not exactly understand. He then pro-
ceeded :--] They (the Reformers) call for the Bal-
lot—they call for the abolition of the Corn-laws.
What is the Ballot ? They call for the Ballot to give
secret votes ; and even the Editor of the North Derby-
shire Chronicle, would he not start with affright if the
Members of the House of Commons were called upon to
vote secretly ?—(Cheers.) Yet, Gentlemen, if the consti-
tuency have a right to call upon the Members of the House
of Commons to know how they vote, has not a man who
lives in a 60/. house a right to know how he who lives in a
house of 10/. votes ?--(Cheers.) As long as the suffrage
exists, ought not a man who has a great deal more to pay
than his neighbour, know how that neighbour votes ?
(Cheers.) If you were to tell the Editor of the North
Derbyshire Chronicle that the Members of the House of
Commons should vote secretly, he would say, " oh horrible!
damnable 1" But if intelligence is to be the test, I say that
the man who holds 15,000/. in Derby, is quite equal to the
15 men in Walker-lane.—(Cheers and laughter.) [Mr.
Johnson then entered on the subject of the Corn-laws :
here again we were quite " at sea," and must therefore pro-
ceed :]—Gentlemen, I have detained you long.—(" Go
on.") I rose to give the health, not of a young man, but
of one who is connected in name and character with
the commercial greatness of this country, but without
aristocratical wealth. Although one who is not con-
nected with cotton-spinning or calico-printing—not that I
should think less of him if he were, because I love the
people--I venerate the people. I look upon all society
as a social pyramid, and consider the people as its base ;
and I should say at once where that is the case, that that
country is glorious—that country of all others and of all
things in the world is the most valuable on God's earth.—
(Cheers.) If there is one thing nearer to my heart than
another, it is a love of the people. To whom could George
Cavendish look, but to those men whom he has despised—
derogated ?—(Cheers.) Is it to be expected that be could
look to the manufacturing interests? If any man is more
indebted than another to the 50/. tenantry, it is George
Cavendish.—(Cheers.) I do assure you, however, 1 am
not desirous to separate you from the Duke of Devonshire.
I will now propose the health of a man who is the very key-
stone to the arch of the landed and agricultural interests. I
will rive his health as connected with that class of men
whom George Cavendish has insulted, and I hope you wil
respond to me ; for I love you ! I know that the 30/. te-
nants are holding themselves to the very power, the very
clutches of our glorious and holy Constitution in Church
and State ; and I will give the health of the Marquis of
Cbandos, and the 501. tenantry.—(Drunk with three
times three.)

The Rev. G. T. Spencer, of Boxton has been ap
pointed Bishop of Madras.