The Sun.
London, England, 1822-04-06 00:00:00

warehoused in Great Britain, and exported thence, amounted in
value to 11,490,3391. All this was brought to Great Britain in
British ships, and exported from our ports in vessels V the
same description. I will give you a few of the articles. Of
coffee, we exported nearly three millions ; of sugar, one million
two hundred thousand ; of rum, one million one hundred
thousand ; the produce of our West India Islands.—How much
of this, Sr, shall we have any chance of exporting, if the
Americans are admitted into the carrying trade ? 1 will ven-
ture to say, not one half. The Americans, having access to
the West Indies, will be enabled to carry more cheaply and
directly. What they have done in the China and Indian trade,
they will at least be enabled to do in the West India trade;
that is, to be our most formidable, and, indeed, only rivals,
in the markets of Europe. But I will not occupy any more of
your time, Sir, though I have only touched upon this sub-
ject. I confess that I expected that more respect would have
been paid to our Navigation Laws by his Majesty's present Mi-
nisters, with whom, on the main, lam disposed to agree. I
should have expected, Sir, that an attachment to these laws had
run in the blood of the Earl of Liverpool, to whose father the
country is indebted for the Register Acts, and whose name will
always descend with the greatness, opulence, and commercial
superiority of the country. But the labours and zeal of that
Nobleman were in nothing more conspicuous than in his steady
maintenance of the Navigation Laws. His Register Acts were
intended as a buttress to the system, and they will contribute
to render this magnificent portal of our national defence as
lasting as the citadel itself, of which it is an outwork. The
work of Mr. Reeves, composed under his auspices, is itself a
scientific panegyric upon this system ; and the recent work of
Mr. Holt, upon the " Shipping and Navigation Laws of Great
Britain," is ano less able and learned defence of them. As
the latter work appears to be published under the special pro-
tection of Lord Stowell, and is highly commended by him in
his judgment, in the Juliana,* a few days since, I shall beg
leave to conclude with a quotation from 'that work. Lord
Stowell's influence at this Board, as one of the Lords of Trade,
still, Jtrust, continues. _ _ _

"Vithotit our commsrce," says Mr. Holt, " and our com-
merce under the Navigation System, our existing naval do-
minion and superiority would be but a tree without a root.—
But whilst it is thus planted in the inexhaustible resources of
our national wealth, and fed through all its height and breadth
by a never-ceasing spring, that Navy and Commerce, by which
we have become what we are, will continue for centuries to be
the soil and shade under which our childrens' children will
maintain their descending inheritance. The Navigation Act,
like many of our laws of constitutional liberty, arose in times
of popular commotion ; and, from the effect of political causes,
was the source of many bloody wars with our maritime rivals,
the Dutch. BUt succeeding Kings and Parliaments, acknow-
ledging its wisdom, and respecting the patriotic spirit in which
it originated, have considered it no less a measure of good po-
licy, than a proper maintenance of the popular interests, to
give it,'upon every suitable occasion, a larger compass and a
firmer root ; and so to direct and vide its growth into our
system, that it might be sustained by one common trunk, and
supported by intertwining its branches with the spreading tree
of British liberty."
I have the honour to remain, Sir,
Your friend and constant reader,
A SHIP-OWNER.

Devonshire-place, April 3, 1822.
* See New Times, March 20.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

SURREY LENT ASSIZES; KINGSTON, APRIL 4.

CIVIL SIDE.

XERXES V. THE SOUTH LONDON WATER-WORKS COMTANY

This was an action on the case to recover a compensation,
for an injury sustained by the plaintiff, in consequence of the
negligence of the defendants. The declaration stated, that
the plaintiff was the driver 'of the Godalming stage-coach, and
was driving the same, in a public highway, in the parish of
Saint Mary, Lambeth, and that the defendants, by their ser-
vants, had excavated a part of such highway for the purpose of
water-works of the Company, and that it was the defendants'
duty to guard such excavations, so that the public might safely
travel along the said road with their carriages ; but that the
defendants neglecting their duty, so improperly filled up such
excavations, that the road became insecure and dangerous, and
in consequence, on the lath of June, 1820,'the wheels of the
coach which the plaintiff' drove sunk into ''such excavations,
and thereby the plaintiff was thrown from the coach and had
one of his thighs broken, The damages were laid at 1000I._
The defendants pleaded Not Guilty.
The cause of the accident 'was clearly proved to have arisen
from the carelessness of the defendants' servants, in not taking
precaution to fill up with hard materials the excavation which
had been made, whereby the misfortune happened.
Mr. GURNEY addressed the Jury in mitigation of damages,
and admitted that the Plaintiff was entitled to a verdict, but
contended that, under the circumstances of the case, no claim
had been made out to any thing more than moderate damages.
Mr. Baron GRAHAM charged the Jury, that the defendants
were responsible for all the consequences of their servants' mis-
conduct. It was their duty to guard the public against misfor-
tunes of this kind,• and if they were guilty of any negligence
in this respect, they must be answerable for their want of care
in employing skilful servants who might he trusted in the per-
formance of their duty. The plaintiff, who had suffered se-
verely, was entitled to a liberal, but at the same liMe a tem-
perate compensation for the grievous injury he had sustained.
The Jury retired for about twenty minutes, and returned
their verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 5001.