The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1838.

porary assign to the funds, and
.to the taxes, by which they are
supported ?"
Our reply is, that the Corn-laws were passed by the
landlords, in opposition to and defiance of the manu-
facturing and commercial interests, for their own pecu-
niary advantage, and never for one day were unop-
posed by the classes they plunder. The funds were
also created by these landlords as legislators, but by
and with the consent of the great majority of the com-
munity, for the presumed public advantage..
They
were created by the landlords also to support their
own pet war with France. The majority of the nation
continue to support the funds, and nobody complains
of them so much as the landlords, who borrowed the
money. Thus the " fund taxes," till the landlords
pay off the national debt, have, in an honest origin
for a public purpose, and in the general consent, all
the validity which any law can ever possess. The
Corn-laws tax, in its dishonest origin, in the general
disapprobation, and in the private purpose they were
passed to serve, have none of the validity, except the
form, of a law. Such a distinction answers all the
rest of the observations of the Herald about farmers
capital, &c., though it would not be difficult to
prove that the only capital vested in the soil is the
extorted toil of the half-starved agricultural labourers,
and that the grasping and dishonest landlords have left
the farmer no capital to vest in the soil.

The following official paragraph, which we copy

from a Ministerial Morning Contemporary, renders
any further notice, on our part, of the article on the
Mexican Blockade, which we yesterday extracted from
the Courrier Francais, altogether unnecessary. We
trust that an announcement so flattering to the na-
tional 'vanity of France, will dispel the sombre appre-
hensions of our Gallic Contemporaries :

" The misconception of some of our French Contem-
poraries renders it necessary to observe that the English
fleet which has proceeded to South America, has done so with
the most friendly intentions. Mr. Pakenham is instructed
upon his arrival to put himself in immediate and amicable
relations with the French Admiral."

alone, and reckoning the number at 1,500 weekly, with 1
two packages each (a moderate computation), the
sum raised in five months would exceed 1,500/.
Taking into account those that land from Havre,
Dieppe, Calais, and other places along the coast, and
from Boulogne during the rest of the year, we are jus—
tified in stating that the whole sum amounts yearly to
thousands. It is contrary to fact to say that the charge
is made only for private wharfage. We have the best
authority for stating that the charge is made by the
Custom-house officers, whether the baggage is landed
at a private wharf or not.

The following are the extracts to which we have ad
verted

Books printed before 1801, bound or unbound,

are charged, the cwt.
n the foreign and living language:, printed

after 1801 v v
.n thQ dead language, printed after the same

year .

.{1 0 0

2 10 0

5 0 0

English books reprinted abroad are prohibited,
except those not reprinted in the United Kingdom
within twenty years, and those brought as a part of a
passenger's baggage, provided they do not exceed one
copy of any work, arid are for the private use of the
parties themselves.

Prints and maps. plain, ld. ; Coloured, 2d. each.
Pictures, Is. each, and further, Is. the square foot.
Boots, the dozen pairs
Men's gloves, the dozen pairs
Women's gloves
Boxes of all sorts, 20 per cent., ad valorem duty.
Clocks and watches
Thread lace
Silk manufactures in general '3o per cent.
Fancy silk net, or tricot, the lb. . . . . 1 4 0
Plain silk lace, the lb 0 1 4
Silk dresses, each
Nine, the gallon
Urn
I 2 6

Brandy
INhisky, imported from Scotland or Ireland
into England

0 7 6

A pint of spirits, and half a pint of eau de Cologne,
admitted free. The remainder of passengers' stores
above that quantity charged the usual duties.
Grapes ...... . . 5 per cent. ad valorem.
Tobacco, unmanufactured, the lb.. . . . 0 3 0
Do. manufactured, or segars . . . o_. 9 0

An ordinance of M. SALVANDY, Minister of Pub-
lic Instruction, takes precedence of the gravest politi—
cal questions in the French Journals of Wednesday.
We are not sorry for this. French ridicule is much
more to our taste than French argument ; and the
Press need never want subjects for a laugh, if it take
the trouble to record the acts of the members of the
Cabinet. We are truly not amiss in this respect at
home, but we are a grave people, and enjoy best a joke
at second-hand. Well, it appears that M. SALVANDY,
who is as busy andas buzzing in his office of Instructor-
General of France as a bee in an empty bottle, has added
to his already long list of official ordinances, one for
compelling the youth of France to keep each a livret,
or pocket-book, in which shall be recorded his school
and college deeds, misdeeds, prizes, disgraces, punish-
ments, and general character, which book he is care-
fully to preserve, however much it may be for his in-
terest to fling it into the fire, in order to produce it as
a sort of ticket at every toll-bar in the great journey of
life. This is an improvement upon the plan of the
arch divinity, who recommended the placing of a win-
dow in the human breast, in order that the observer
might catch a glimpse of thoughts in a state of
nudity. The livret makes us familiar with the
man in his long clothes ; and the Court historiographer
has only to borrow a goodly collection of such re-
cords, to favour the world with the biography of every
man of note in the kingdom. Then only think of the
assistance which the livret system will afford to the
development and perfection of the noble science
of phrenology and craniology—for now-a-days,
whatever concerns bumpology, is a science. It
will no longer be guess-work with the learned
professors. Having first made themselves acquainted
with the naughty tricks of naughty boys, they will
have nothing to do but set about the discovery of a
corresponding bump, and vice versa. Suppose, for
example, that the livret of some future Minister of
Finance records an instance of juvenile disregard of the
strict laws of ;nem and Num, in the case of a bunch of
grapes, or a tempting custard, the phrenologist at once
discovers that the bump of acquisitiveness is very
largely developed in his cranium, and as a natural
consequence, some friendly Journalist slily hints the
possibility of an official robbery of the Exchequer !
See here how beautifully the system is brought
to bear upon the happiness of the people I
How delighted we should have been had such
a system prevailed when Louis PHILIPPE
first found his way into a pair of inexpressibles I The
livrets of his MAJESTY and the members of his Ca-
binet would supply some delectable reading to the
Editors of the Charivari. Verily the French Minis-
, ter of Public Instruction is the first of modern won-
ders I In his case it is not only the " schoolmaster
abroad," but the schoolmaster at sea, without rudder
or compass !

A summary of the mere news contained in the
Journals of Wednesday will be found in another part
of The Sun. The advices from Madrid are of the
30th, but they possess little interest beyond the an-
nouncement that the capital continued hi a state of
tranquillity.

Passengers arriving from the Continent will be per.
mitted to enter any quantity of segars under 31bs
weight, and from the East or West Indies 71bs,
weight, the duty of course to be paid.

DREADFUL LOSS OF LIFE IN

PLYMOUTH SOUND.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

MESMERISM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Chelsea, Nov. 9, 1838

Nothing is talked of in London to-day but the
Lord Mayor's Show. As usual, the day is so cloudy
that we can scarcely discern the gorgeous city barges
on the river.

Yesterday (Wednesday), about one o'clock, r.m., two
large boats left the Breakwater to convey the workmen
ashore. It was blowing a gale of wind from the South-
West, and when the boats arrived off the mouth of Cut-
water, about half a mile from the shore, one of them was
struck by a heavy sea on the larboard side, end .imme-
diately capsized. The men NO in number) were observed
struggling in the waves, and two clung fur a time to the
bottom of the boat ; but the violence of the sea soon tore
them from their precarious grasp, and, after a short and
fearful struggle, every soul perished. The other boat put
back as soon as the accident was observed, and severa
four-oared gigs went off from the pier ; but they had to pull
out against a strong head sea. When they reached the
fatal spot, not a vestige remained. The boat was driven
ashore on Batten Point in the course of the afternoon ; but
up to the present moment none of the bodies have been re-
covered. 'The weather is now moderate, and several boats
are out creeping for them. The boat was a large ship's
launch, carrying one lug sail, and pulling 14 oars. The
two boats had been racing in from the Breakwater, a
friendly contest, which is often carried on amongst them.
It is thought that the helmsman, endeavouring to avoid the
sea which struck them, brought the head of the boat too
near the wind, which occasioned the fatal result. Sixteen of
the men were married, and several large families are left to
deplore this melancholy disaster, which has cast a gloom
over the whole town.
Plymouth, Nov.B , 838.

claim your indulgence for an admission of a short
reply to tWo partial and unjust articles that have ap-
peared in the Dublin Medical Journal, and in the London
Monthly Miscellany, both professing to give a true ac-
count of certain experiments in the new science
called " Mesmerism," or " Exoneurism." As these
two journals appear but once a month, the mis-
representations contained in these articles must cir-
culate uncontradicted, unless you extend to me the fa-
vour I request. The paper signed " Anti-quack," in the
Dublin Journal, consists of a series of assertions unsup-
ported, except by the ignorance and prejudice of the writer.
A reply to these sophisms and falsehoods shall be forth-
with prepared. With regard to the writer who signs him-
self " Idios," in the London ]liiscellany, his pretensions
to high morality are truly ridiculous ; his dulness will
not permit him to perceive the decidedly philanthro-
pic tendency of this noble science. It must create a
complete revolution in the philosophy of mind, and even-
tually in the social condition of man. By enhancing
the intellectual powers, it will lead to an almost imme-
diate extension of man's power over nature, and by afford-
inc, facilities for the diffusion of education into every nook
oesoeiety, will make mental cultivation universal. The
state of exaltation to which " Exoneurism" raises the
powers of reason and volition, will elevate the most
humble intellect, and the most feeble, above the level of
what has hitherto been deemed superior genius. What
triumphs may we not expect for humanity, when the
collective genius of a nation may be thus magnified ?
Every field of exertion to which the invention of
man has hitherto been directed will be cultivated
with a success such as the imagination could
never hitherto have conceived. The interpretation of na-
ture, in the physical world, will proceed with an accele-
rated velocity. The invention of means for the comfort
and happiness of the race in every respect, whether physi-
cal, moral, or intellectual, will be promoted. The poet,
the orator, the moralist, the statesman, the engineer, the
architect, will be placed on a higher pedestal than ever.
Such noble views would the literary Caliban, called
" Idios," mar by his conceited efforts at satire and argu-
mentation. His insinuations against Dr. Elliotson, Mr.
Mayo, Dr. Grant, and other eminent philosophers who have
adopted exoneurisin, though deserving of contempt only,
will be replied to on his own ground. His temerity will
then be so heartily chastised, that the next time he puts
pen to paper he will be enabled, in the opinion of his
readers, with perfect truth to sign himself " Idiot."
I am, Sir, your, constant reader,
AI ES M ERIC US.

LUNACY.—We are glad to observe that it has
been suggested to establish a Society, to be called " The
Lunatics' Friend Society," for the purpose of investigating
the abuses of lunatic asylums, affording redress to those un-
justly incarcerated, and devising some more rational and hu-
mane mode of treatment for insane patients in general. By
such a Society the sympathy with the sufferings of the unfortu-
nate victims of cupidity, cruelty, and oppression, which is now
expressed, would not be allowed to evaporate in vain words
and empty professions of kindness. Effectual measures would
probably be adopted for their relief, and a Committee of active
men formed to direct them.
A horrid murder has been perpetrated at Milbourne
Port, in Somerset. Two men, named Osmond and Stacey,
were fighting in a clover-field which they been mowing ; when,
after several rounds, Osmond (who was under the excitement
of liquor) cut his antagonist most barbarously across the abdo-
men, and in other parts of the body. An alarm was soon given,
and medical gentlemen sent for ; and the deceased was speedily
conveyed to his home, where he died in about 23 hours. There
were other wounds on different parts of the body and limbs;
three of these were merely abrasions, but the remainder had
been produced by some sharp-cutting instrument, from which
he must have received at least ten blows : some of the wounds
were very severe, but that in the belly caused his death. An
inquest was held on the 28th ult., when the jury pronouned
a verdict of Wilful Murder by James Osmond.— Wilts In-
dependent.
DINNER---DEFECTION OF M.P.'s.--The Water-
ford Chronicle, referring to some proceedings at a meeting
preliminary to the public dinner at which Mr. O'Connell is to
be entertained on the 13th at 'Waterford, after declaring that
the Liberator's enemies may learn from the feelings displayed
on this occasion that " he holds as lofty and as firm a place
in the hearts of his countrymen, as he ever occupied—and that
affection and gratitude towards him, as the benefactor of the
human race, were never so largely entertained as they are at
this moment, by his sterling friends and admirers"—states,
as something extraordinary, that not any of the City or
County Members were present, and that they " did not give
their countenance even by letter or otherwise to the proceed-
ings." When the public are informed (the Chronicle aids)
that one of those Honourable Gentlemen was, at the time of
meeting, within a few minutes' drive of town, his absence in
particular, is the more surprising—and, from matters concern-
ing which we shall have something to remark on a future oc-
casion, ought we think to be inquired into by his constituents.