The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-21 00:00:00

RAILROADS AND CANALS.

ductions of labour, has been a paramount object of concern to
almost every State of ancient or modern times. We accordingly
find that the government in each has applied the national re-
sources—for the purpose of constructing roads, making rivers
navigable, cutting canals, and bringing art to turn to profit,
and reduce to submission the channels which nature has sup-
plied in a greater or less degree to all countries for the obvious
purpose of intercommunication.
" It is a singular circumstance, that notwithstanding the
great natural means v:hich England possessed for the forma-
tion of canals. from her numerous rivers and insular position,
she was the last country in Europe to avail herself of her in.
ternal advantages. Her commereial operations extended to
every part of the world ; but while she wielded le trident de '
Neptune—ee sceptre du monde,' and filled he numerous ports
with the productions of every country, her majestic rivers
flowed idly to the ocean.
In the reign of Elizabeth John Dee laid down a plan for
intersecting England with canals, and uniting the German
Ocean with the Irish Sea, by forming a navigable passage
from Newcastle to Carlisle, and it is worthy of remark that
the project for uniting the two seas was commenced two
hundred and twenty years afterwards by the undertakers of
the Ashton-under-Lyne Canal, one of the lines by which
that great object has been attained. His plan, however,
has been since more directly carried into effect by the rail-
road between Newcastle and Carlisle. This singular man
also recommended a canal from Southampton to London,
to " preserve ships from the dangers and delay of a coast
passage," and his purpose in that respect will shortly be
effected also by the completion of the Southampton Rail-
road. In the time of Cromwell a canal was opened be-
tween London and Guildford, a part of the line recom-
mended by John Dee, but no material change took place
till the year 1737, when the Act enabling the Duke of
Bridgewater to make a canal from Worsley to Man-
chester was passed. Since then a vast number of ca-
nals have been formed, intersecting the country in al-
most every direction. A return was laid before Par
liament in 1825, from which it appears that at that period
there were eighty corporate Canal Companies, that they
had expended 13,205,1181., that twenty-three had pro-
duced no dividend, and that the remainder paid an average
interest of about seven and a half per cent. to the share-
holders. We may here mention a singular fact, which per-
sons of great sagacity and experience ten years ago consi-
dered impossible. It has now been proved by experience that
a railway and a, canal may be concurrent to the advantage
of both. The amount of the receipts on the Man-
chester and Liverpool Canal has been greatly increased
since the opening of the railway, though the freight has
been reduced from 15s. to 10s. per ton. It has been calcu-
lated that the ordinary expense of maintaining canals is
from 1501. to 2001. per mile, while that for railroads is
quadruple the amount. The expense of maintaining the
Manchester and Liverpool Railway is estimated at 6501.
per mile. The canals consequently have greatly the ad-
vantage as regards profits. M. Charles Dupin has calcu-
lated that a canal cut from Havre to Strasburg would re-
pay the cost of its construction in one year, taking into
account the receipts for freight and the increase of the na-
tional revenue ; but that calculation has been more than
realized in this country. The Bridgewater Canal, inde-
pendent of the increase of the national revenue, produces
an annual income greater than the entire original cost. It
is a lamentable fact that one half of the loans granted to
Continental States by England, but never to be repaid,
would have been sufficient. to intersect the whole kingdom
with canals and railroads.
Railroads form the next subject for discussion, and in
treating it the miter goes back to the history of roads in
general, but particularly of the great Roman roads, and
points out the defective system by which all our public
highways arc still maintained. It appears that that won-
derful people, about whom we know so little, " the Car-
thaginians, first paved their ways," according to St.
Isidoras. " Afterwards the Romans did the same
throughout all the world, to make the roads straight,
and keep the multitude out of idleness." The Ro-
mans, however, made canals and roads, chiefly for mili-
tary purposes. These roads were raised in the centre,
and paved with large stones. The rapidity of travelling on
them, by means of posts, established at stages of five miles
each, where forty horses were constantly kept in readiness
for the use of the State, was as great as horse power could
make it on such roads ; but even that was not great, com-
pared with the speed of modern travelling. It is recorded
as a matter of wonder, that a Roman magistrate posted by
express from Antioch to Constantinople in five days and a
half, the distance being about 660 miles. Our mail-coaches
now run the same distance in half the time. We have had
an express from Glasgow, a distance of 400 miles, in little
more than twenty-four hours ; and by railroads we could
travel in twenty hours the distance which occupied the
Roman functionary five days and a half ! Railroads, how-
ever, are but in their infancy, and we cannot speak with
certainty of their manhood ; but in all probability they
will effect as great a change as has been effected within the
last hundred years by canals and highways. That they will
open up new sources of profit to individuals, increase the
revenue, promote civilization, and create demand for labour,
cannot be doubted ; and under all these circumstances they
merit the support and watchful care of Government. On
Ireland canals and railroads would confer innumerable
blessings. They would, in the words of Colonel Bur-
goyne, " add to the empire profitable and excellent land
to the amount of hundreds and thousands of acres, as much
as if they had arisen out of the bottom of the sea, but no
party is sufficiently interested to come forward. The inte-
rests are so blended and so limited, that no person sees the
particular advantage he would gain, and it is only by Go-
vernment this can possibly be done." The same authority
adds in reply to a question—" I would apply the Govern-
ment money in opening very extensive uncultivated tracts ;
I would provide one main thoroughfare of communication
at the expense of Government; and for opening less ex-
tensive districts, I would give the moiety grants, as at
present." Louis Phillippe has been reckoned a long-headed
man, and he has been for years directing the whole energies
of his Government to open such lines of communication in
France, knowing well that every mile of new communi-
cation, whether by canal or railroad, will increase trade and
commerce, and thereby increase the public revenue. Ire-
land is just the country for the experiment. A super-
abundant population, a rich soil, and a ready market in
England for her produce, hold out certain prospects of
success. Were Government to commence such an under-
taking, and carry it through with clue economy and spirit,
it would easily be proved that the increased consumption
of taxable commodities alone would in a very short time
repay the whole of the expenditure. What noble employ-
ment for Statesmen, compared with their struggles for
place—useless to all but themselves—their squabbles about
the petty details of corporations—and the juggles which
two of the great parties in the State have so long played
to keep up places and pensions for the drones of the Whig
and Tory aristocracy !

In the last number of the British and Foreign Review
we find an article on " State Labour in Ireland," which
would be interesting at any period, but is peculiarly so at
the present moment, when all civilized nations practically
admit the folly of war by the intense interest they manifest for
the arts of peace, and, above all, for the greatest of all these
;arts, easy and speedy communication between towns and
kingdoms in every quarter of the globe. About thirty
years ago the whole of Europe formed but one arena for
battle. The great objects of England and France—the
prime combatants—were to excite the people of the two
countries to the utmost pitch of national hostility—to raise
armies and fit out fleets for slaughter and plunder.--to get
all the States that had no quarrels of their own to range
themselves on one side or the other and join in the " dread-
ful revelry;" and after spending countless millions of money
and sweeping countless thousands of human beings from
the face of the earth, they sat down alike exhausted, and
alike convinced and tired of the unprofitable game. An-
other generation of men has sprung up, who, deriding " the
wisdom of their ancestors," have engaged in a different kind
of rivalry. France and Prussia—the two most warlike na-
tions on the continent—have been occupied for years in
spreading the blessings of education ; England, who has
been too often the last in commencing great improvements,
is beginning to stir herself in the same laudable undertak-
ing, and if we except Spain, from one end of Europe to the
other, people talk about nothing but education, railroads,
canals, and steam-ships. The article to which we allude,
goes at considerable length into the history of lines of com-
munication by means of roads and canals, and gives many
interesting details on these and similar works, undertaken
in most other countries by the State, and in England.almost
entirely by companies or private individuals, but as the
length of the article may deter some from perusing it, and
the facts it contains, and the great research displayed by
the writer, deserves to be generally known, we will give a
short outline of them for the benefit of our numerous read-
ers. It will surprise some of these to learn that England.
some two hundred years ego, was far behind France and
other continental States as regards most of those improve-
ments, of which the people of this country have now so
much reason to be proud. France took precedence of
England by more than a century in public works. Even
London, so celebrated for every improvement befitting a
,7reat city, was, two hundred years ago, only superior from
its size, to country towns and villages. Lord Bacon, in a
judic.;al charge thus describes the difference beween towns
on the continent, and the capital of England :
" For nuisances end grievances I will for the present only
single out one, that ye present the decays of high ways and
bridges; for where the majesty of a king's house draws re-
course and access, it is both disgraceful to the king and
diseaseful to the people, if the ways near-abouts be not fair
and good; wherein it is strange to see the chargeable pave-
ments and causeways in the avenues and entrances of towns
ai:road beyond the seas; whereas London, the second city at
the least of Europe, in glory, in greatness, and in wealth,
cannvt be discerned by the fairness of the ways, though a little
perhaps by the broadness of them, from a village."—Lord
Bacon's Works, vol. iv. p. 393.
The lead which other States took of England, and her
tardiness in taking Ilvantage of her natural advantage,
described by the au hor in the following words : - arc
"It would be tedious to refer to Holland —where an opulent
Slate has been raised cut of a marsh, by intersecting it with
can,.l3; to Germany—the Netherlands—or the other Stales of
Eurot,e, to prove, that to facilitate the intercourse between
tine dist:ict end another, to lessen the expense of carriage,
and thus develqp; internal wealth and distribute the l ro-

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1838.

ham was in the cabin when the steamer arrived, and a per-
fect silence reigned, but the instant his Lordship ap-
peared, the air rang with loud huzzas from a thousand
throats—giving proof that he was " Unquestioned—wel-
come, and undoubted—blest." A deputation then waited
upon his Lordship with the following address from the
inhabitants of the seigniories of Nouvelle Longeuil and
Soulenges:—
" We, her Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects, hail with
infinite pleasure your Lordship's return to this province as her
Majesty's representative in this country ; apart, however, from
all other considerations, we are bound in gratitude to offer our
most heartfelt thanks to your Lordship for the heroic and mer-
ciful conduct so recently and so nobly shown to our unfortu-
nate countrymen.
" Convinced, my Lord, as we are, that her Majesty's
strongest fortifications are the hearts of her people, and the
most endearing attachment that of gratitude, we are con-
fident (as we trust the re3ult will prove) that your policy
has not been more humane than wise, and that in the mag-
nanimous oblivion of the past will be found the best security
for the future.
" As faithful and loyal subjects of her Majesty, and
anxious for the success of your Lordship's administration,
we should fail in our duty were we to withhold our appre-
hension that our connexion with the mother country, so
much desired by us, can only be endangered by the
continuance of those feudal burdens we have so long and
patiently borne, as well as our conviction, that in the late
rebellion, many were actuated by a desire to emancipate
their suffering countrymen from exactions and oppres-
sions unknown in any other part of the free and glorious em-
pire of Great Britain. That we have so long and patiently
borne these exactions may excite your surprise, but as a states-
man your Lordship cannot fail to perceive the impossibility of
becoming an educated and enterprising people, so long as such
exactions and restraints exist. We believe that feudal thral-
dom is incompatible with British institutions, economical en-
terprise, or agricultural improvement, and that capital, in-
dustry, and energy of character must ever be aliens where that
tenure prevails.
" We beseech your Lordship as a statesman, as well as a
benefactor, to examitie.our condition; our confidence is in
your integrity and justice. We will suggest no amelioration,
and if your Lordship should deem our feudal burdens not be-
yond human enduraim or human degradation, we are content
—suffering shall continuo the badge of all our race."
To which his Lordship was pleased to .reply :
" I receive your congratulations with true pleasure. I feel
happy to return to those who, like you, can justly appreciate
my motives and actions. •
.‘ I have exercised in the•Qtigen's name one of her Majesty's
most glorious prerogatives, that of mercy, because I believe
the great majority of your wing countrymen to have been de-
luded into a course of conduct repugnant to their real feel-
ings and principles. The folly and criminality of these insti.
gations having been exposed and punished, I trust I shall be
spared the pain cf ever again recurring to such deplorable
events. _ _

" It will be the paramount duty of your countrymen to
prove by their future conduct, that I have judged them right.
I have rendered myself responsible to my Sovereign for their
loyalty, and do not for a moment doubt that they will fully
redeem the pledge I have given.
" The grievances to which you allude have already at-
tracted my attention, and I have taken steps to insure their
practical reformation, as alike required by sound policy and
strict justice."
We have private information that notwithstanding the short
stay of Lord Durham in the upper province, it is not impro-
bable that great changes will be made there in due season. It
appears that by his instructions Lord Durham is not autho-
rised to act in Upper Canada without first communicating
with the Home Government. A messenger with dispatches
fii?rn his Lordship arrived here last evening. The dispatches
will be forwarded by the Royal William.—Commercial
Advertiser.

SOUTH AMERICA.
(From the New York Journal of Commerce.)
LATE AND IMPORTANT FROM BUENOS AYRES.
The ship Nile, Captain Hepburn, arrived last evening from
Buenos Ayres, bringing papers to the 2d of June inclusive ;
nine days later than our previous advices.
A Special Session of the House of Representatives had
been called, and a message communicated, which, in con-
nection with verbal information from the Captain, countenances
the belief that war tree immediately to be declared by that
republic against France. Roses, the present governor, or
dictator, of Buenos Ayres, is an obstinate, hard, old character,
of the Hickory order, with a little touch of the snapping
turtle.

Admiral Brown has, by a Government decree, been called
again into active service. What he can achieve, without
either ships or seamen, it is impossible to imagine.
BUENOS AYRES, JUNE 2.—The following important mes.
sage was sent by the Government to the House of Represen-
tatives of the province

" Buenos Ayres, May 25,1833.
" 29th year of the Liberty, 23d of the Indepen-
dence, and 9th of the Argentine Conferation."
The Executive.

" To the Honourable Legislature of the Province.
" Honourablo Representatives—The government of the
province charged with the foreign affairs of the Argentine
Confederation acquits itself of the duty of rendering you an
account and submitting to your enlightened examination and
deliberation the official and private correspondence carried oil
with Messieurs the Consul and French Rear-Admiral.

" None more than the government, placed as it is under
the obligation of watching over the welfare of the people
ever whom it presides, deplores the misfortunes which may
press upon them ; but none with more reason than their worthy
representatives can appreciate the magnitude and gravity of the
sacrifice which, with the knife at the throat, is exacted from
them without any semblance of justice.
" After the official publications have made manifest the real
state of the facts, and that not only are groundless the causes
of complaint alleged against the Argentine republic by a nation
whose sons have been and are considered in this hospitable land
with unparalleled generosity, but that likewise are gratuitous
and unmerited the charges made against the Argentine Go-
vernment of having on different occasions atacked the rights of
France, the security of Frenchmen established in our territory,
and that of their property, it is not to be expected that the
great reason and propriety with which the Government has
persisted in rejecting the unjust pretensions of Messieurs
the Consul and Rear- Admiral will be denied; but, on
the contrary, its conduct will be appreciated in descend-
ing from the position of the offended party, and confiding in
the spirit of justice which characterises the Government of
his Majesty the King of the French, entering into confi•
dential explanations with his Excellency the Rear-Admiral
notwithstanding that it beheld him ploughing over waters, with
the singular pretension of silencing the laws of an indepen-
dent country as it respects Frenchmen, and to impose at the
head of a squadron terms which can only be the subject of a
F pntaneous treaty between the Government of his Majesty the
King of the French, and that charged with the Foreign affairs
of the Argentine Confederation, by means of agents duly au-
thorised, each party remaining at liberty to accept it or not, ac-
cording as it may suit their interests.
" The Government would betray the honourable confidence
reposed in it by the representatives, and the special charge of
the Governments of the Provinces of the Confederation to
direct the Foreign affairs of the Republic, if it should silence
the laws whose faithful fulfilment is confided to it, only because
a military chieftain, however distinguished his rank, requires it.
It is forbidden likewise by the dignity of the country, which at
all cost must be sustained ; by the public interest, which cannot be
disregarded; by its foreign credit, which cannot be neg_
elected; by the respect and consideration due to friendly
Sovereigns and States ; and by the urgent necessity of
avoiding the fatal consequences of admitting the new-
fangled and extraordinary international right which has been
put in practice for the first time by his Excellency the
Rear- Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces
of his Majesty the King of the French on the Brazil and
South Sea station.
After the Government has exhausted all the alterna-
tives suggested to it, by its friendly sentiments and desire
to maintain inviolate friendly relations with the French
nation, reconciling them as far as possible with what the
dignity and independence of the republic demand, the
persons who compose it not being disposed to sacrifice to
such exigencies their individual honour and good name,
which they have known how to preserve throughout all
the internal vicissitudes of the country, and much less
subscribe to the ignominous and humiliating degradation
in which it is endeavoured to plunge the republic, whose
sovereignty and independence they have solemnly sworn
to sustain, the time has arrived when the honour-
able representatives of the province, taking into con-
sideration this delicate affair, and appreciating all its circum-
stances kith the paramount importance it possesses, not only
to the Argentine Confedemtion, but to all nations of either
hemisphere, and especially to those of the American Conti-
nent, they should pronounce, with all the freedom and delibe-
rate circumspection which the case merits, their opinion with
regard to the conduct of the Government, subject, like all
human things, to error ; and decide whether it shall sustain or
not, at the cost of any sacrifice, not excepting that of our lives
and property, the sacred oath we have made before God and
the people of the universe, to defend at all hazard the dignity,
sovereignty, and independence of the country, now unjustly
attacked by the pretensions of the Consul and the French
Rear- Admiral.
" The persons who comprise the Government, honourable
representatives, after your decision, will comply with what
they owe the country, the Argentines, the world, and their
own honour.

" God preserve the Honourable House many years.
" JUAN M. DE ROSAS,
" FELIPE ARANA,
MANUEL IRRIARTE."
The House being in recess, it was convoked to an extraor-
dinary sitting by the Standing Committee. It accordivgly
assembled on the 29th ult , when it was resolved to take the
affair into immediate consideration, and previously to its re-
ference to a Committee to report thereon, agreeably to the
rules of the House, it was determined that a public conference
of the Members should take place. This was held on the 30th
and 31st, after which the House adjourned till the Committee
should report. The prevailing opinion of the house seemed
to be favourable to the stand taken by Government, and it is
thou2ht that no surrender" will be their final resolve. We
s1"11, probably, take an early opportunity of giving an abstract
of these momentous debates..
A Decree of 28th May orders that all foreign goods im-
ported into the province by land or by water during the
blockade, shall pay one-third part less than the duties which
correspond to them by the Custom-house tariff.
The Government was hard pushed for money, and was con-
trir:ng every means to raise the wind. Besides the squabble

with France, she has on hand a small affair with Bolivia and
Peru.
BRAZIL.—The defeat of the Government forces in the pro-
vince of Rio Grande ( Brazil) by' a. body of insurgents, has
been already announced. It was effected, it seems, by the
passing of the insurgents behind some mountains, when least
expected, and surpising the garrison at Pedra, of 1,000 men,
who were put to the sword. A visit from the insurgents was
expected in the town of Rio Grande, and preparations were
waking for its defence.
Nothing later from Peru, and nothing important from the
Banda Oriental.
IMPORTANT FROM BRAZlL.—Letters from Rio Janeiro to the
Ist of June, with the sight of which we have been favoured,
mention the receipt of advices from Rio Grande to May 22,
confirming the total defeat of the Government troops by the
insurgents of that province, with a loss of 2,000 men. Only a
few cavalry and three Generals escaped. The rebels were
marching towards Rio Grande, and there was no hope of the
Government being able to withstand them. The province
(Rio Grande) was considered as lost to Brazil. It is the
southernmost province of Brazil, and borders on the Oriental
Republic, of which Monte Video is the capital.

TEXAS.
(From the New Orleans Courier.)
LATEST FROM TEXAS.

By the steam-packet Columbia, which left Galveston on
the 22d instant, we have received regular files of the Houston
Telegraph.
The Mexicans, according to the National Banner, driven
by stress—not of weather, but blockade—are reported to have
taken possession of Corpus Christi, where goods and supplies
are land'd and forwarded to the interior. In consequence of
this intelligence an exress has been forwarded to the Presi-
dent at Nacodoches. This (observes the editor) may be con-
sidered the first step on the part of Mexico towards a renewal
of the war with Texas; and, if we do not act upon the hint
thus given us, it will be taken for granted that we are power-
less for our own protection.
The Comanches have been committing depredations near
San Antonio, Texas. The settlers are leaving their planta-
tions and removing to the towns.
The election for President and Vice-President appear to
excite a great deal of acrimony; it is believed, however, that
General Lamar and Mr. Burnet will be chosen.

Dr. D. Humphreys (who was apprehended in this city,
charged with the murder of Joseph Powell) has, we learn,
been removed to Bratoria for- trial.
The anniversary of American independence was celebrated
with a great deal of feeling by the people of Texas.
SUICIDE BY THE TEXIAN MINISTER.—We learn from the
Lexington (Ky.) Intelliyencer of the 17th instant, that Peter
W. Grayson, Esq., of Texas, committed suicide at Bean's
Station a few days before, by shooting himself with a pistol
through the head. Mr. Grayson was on his way from Texas
to Washington city, having received and accepted from the
Government of Texas the appointment of Minister Plenipo-
tentiary to the Government of the United States. The act,
it is said, was committed with much deliberation. Mr. Gray-
son was a native of Kentucky.
Mr. Joseph Stevenson, of Madison, Co. Ky., committed
suicide on the Ist instant, by shooting himself through the
head with a

MEXICO.
(From the New Orleans Bulletin, July 25. )
FROM MEXICO.—By way of Pensacola we have mere re-
cent intelligence from Mexico. The Pensacola Gazette
mentions the arrival of the United States sloop of war Van-
dalia, from a cruise of seventy-four days in the Gulf of
Mexico and on the coast of Texas, having visited Vera Cruz,
Tampico, Matamoras, and Galveston.
The ports of Mexico were very closely watched by the
French cruisers. The contemplated attack on the castle of
San Juan de Ulloa has for the present been abandoned, the
Baron Defaudis, the French Minister, having sailed for
France. Vessels from the United States and Cuba will not
be warned off before subject to capture, a sufficient time having
e!apzed fur the blockade to become known.
Commodore Bazoche, in the frigate l'Herminie, is at
anchor under the island of Sacrificios ; and one brig and two
schooners, and the frigate's launches, are cruising close in the
shoals, and frequently within musket shot of the Castle. One
brig is off Alvarado, which port was opened the 18th of May,
by the Mexican Government. The cruisers off Tampico
and Matamoras lay at anchor close in with the harbour,
and other vessels are cruising along the coast between these
ports.
All appeared quiet in Texas. The British packet, which
sailed from Vera Cruz on the 27th of May, had been detained
a week after the regular day of sailing, at the request of the
Mexican Government, for the purpose of taking out a request
to the British Government to become mediator between the
French and Mexican Governments. The best feelings have
thus been kept up between the French squadron and our own.
While the Vandalia lay under Sacrifieios, the French and
American officers were in the constant reciprocation of ser-
vices and courtesies.

FROM MExtco.—The schooner Eliza Ann, Capt. Floyd,
arrived yesterday morning from Rio Minto, where she dis-
charged her cargo, and returned without falling in with any
of the French blockading squadron on the coast. On Sunday
last, 40 miles S. E. from Balize, she fell in with one of the
French brigs belonging to the squadron, supposed to be La
Perouse. The Eliza Ann hailed the brig, but received
no answer. The Eliza Ann brings no news cf a political na-
ture.—New Orleans Picayune, 14th inst.

THE HARVEST IN SCOTLAND AND

IRELAND.

We had sent to our office yesterday a stalk of oats, plucked
by Mr. M•Adam, of Castlehill, yesterday morning, from a
geld of his, without selection. It measures in lengt between
five and six feet, and has two hundred and five pickles o 7
well-6112d grain. On Saturday last, Mr. M'Adam plucked
one from the same field, also at random, measuring six feet
nine inches in length, and bearing one hundred and fifteen
pickles. A small field of barley was cut on Monday last, at
Douglaston, on the Maidenhead shoro, fully ripe, and an ex-
cellent crop.—Ayr Advertiser.
KILMARNIOCK, Ace. 15.—We have still to lament the un-
genial state of the atmosphere. With trifling exceptions, we
have had no warm and kindly weather hitherto, and unless Sep-
tember do something for us beyond its fellow-months, our
prospects will be any thing but promising. Markets, as may
he supposed, are rising. We have, however, a most abun-
dant supply of excellent potatoes, at a price comparatively mo-
derate—yesterday we observed fifteen carts loaded with them
in the market at once, and all were soon sold off. To-day the
sky is clear and bright, and we trust the commencement of
dry, warm, and Steady weather.
In consequence of the advance in the price of flour, our
bakers hove been obliged to raise the price of the quartern
loaf to 11d. ; second quality, 10d. We rejoice to state that
the weather is now seasonable, with every prospect of its con-
tinuing to be so.—Aberdeen Herald.
Sinee Sunday we have had the most auspicious weather, as
good indeed as either farmer, tourist, or sportsman could de-
sire ; and forest and glen are luxuriating in all the charms of
beauty and abundance. This has tended greatly to allay the
fears begun to be entertained for the safety of the crops. The
hay harvest is now all secured, and the aftermath of clover
premises an equally dainty " swaith." The grain crops are all
looking healthy and beautiful, though not yet assuming the
yellow tinge of autumn. The potatoes in a few places have
partially failed by portions of the seed failing to germinate;
but as the barren spots were mostly replanted, the produce of
this crop will be fully an average one. The crops in general
have now a promising appearance, although the country has
not escaped the fearful lamentations of the watery saint; and
a few weeks of such weather as we have been favoured with
since Sunday will give a rich harvest to the sickle, and awaken
feelings of gratitude in every heart that rests its hopes upon
Him "to whom the earth belongs, and all that it contains."—
Kelso Chronicle.

The crops in our neighbourhood do not assume any blighted
appearance, but hold out, the promise of a fair return should
the weather speedily become more favourable. The hay har-
vest is now completed, and is being stored ; the crop of which
is above an average, and is selling at 61d. and 7d. per stone
for new grass; old grass is as low as 41-d. The potatoes and
turnips progress favourably. The anxiety of those interested
in farming pursuits is now wholly taken up with the weather;
any calculation fur the commencement of harvest is not in-
dulged in with an apparent accuracy.—Berwick Advertiser.
We have had four successive days of very fine weather.
Crops are just beginning to change their colour. Bog and
meadow hay have this week yielded to the scythe. The rye-
grass hay is nearly all secured.—Ayres/tire Examiner.
Our sympathies are with the farmer just now much more
strongly than with the sportsman, and we beg to rejoice with
him in his fields at this cheerful weather. There is a breeze
for his hay, his turnips, and his lodged grain, and the heat of
the sun is now beginning to be felt, aye, and to be seen in the
yellowing year. 0 ! for a couple of months of such days as
W ednesday. —Dumfries Herald.
IRELAND. —We cannot refer to a subject of more general
interest at this moment than the state of the crops throughout
the United Kingdom, as arising from the unfavourable effects
of the weather. The price of grain has risen so much as
greatly to oppress the poor classes in the three countries; and
in England public meetings have already been convened, with
a view of devising effectual measures of relief. The extracts
which we give below must, however, remove much of the ap-
prehension entertained with -respect to the approaching har-
vest. In this part of the country the poor have suffered con-
siderably from an unusual, but we believe unwarrantable ad-
vance in the price of bread. The duration of this inconveni-
ence will, we trust, Ina short, as the weather has for the last
week become almost uninterruptedly fine, and there is a rea-
sonable prospect of its continuing to improve.—Cork Reporter.
The weather for the last few days has taken a most favour-
able change. Sunshine and warmth have succeeded the gloom
and rain which we experienced for some weeks previously.—
IVattrford Chronicle of Thursday.
The hopes indulged in our last of a favourable change in
the weather are most happily realised. Monday, summer may
be said to have set in with every prospect of a continuance;
. and under the genial influence which now presides, harvest
wrrk in the corn fields near this city will next week be general.
The damage to the crops, we are gratified to state, has not
been of any moment. Those fields which are partially strewn
wig be soon restored unt'er the warmth of summer sunshine.
—Linitricle Chronicle of Wednesday.
Sunshine and warm have succeeded the gloom and rain
which prevailed for some seeks past, and the wheat fields in
cur neighbourhood are fast assenting rich golden hue.—. Ti-
pperary Free Press of Wednesday.
Fearful apprehensions are felt, or affected to be felt, by some
journalists, relative to the prospects of the approaching harvest.
We do not at all participate in them. But, on the contrary,
we feel assured that, should :Providence favour U 3 with a con-
tinuance of the delightful weather which we have experienced

A most favourable change has taken place in the weather
with every prospect of its continuing to be fair, and we may
reasonably hope, notwithstanding the cold and ungenial winds
which have so long prevailed, and the heavy rain that has fallen
vd:hin the last fortnight, that no injury has been done which
fine weather may not retrieve; and that the crops will not
eventually damaged.

LORD BROUGHAM'S ANTI-BEER
BILL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn—Statements having appeared in several of the public
papers, to the effect that petitions have been presented to Par-
liament from the licensed victuallers of Salford, Stockport,
and Wartington, against: the above Bill, I am authorized to
say that no such petitions Save ever emanated from the licensed
victuallers of the places alluded to; but were, on the con-
trary, from the beer-sellers of those towns, or the brewers who
supply them. This distortion of fact has been unwittingly
committed by the Parliamentary reporters.
I remain, Sir, your's obediently,
J. REDFORD,
Secretary to the Licensed Victuallers' Association
of Manchester and Salford.
Primes-street. Maachesty: Aug. 13, -18 S. ' •

SALE OF ESTATES AT MONMOUTH,

BY 21R. GEORGE ROBINS.

Monmouth and Ross have been to-day and yesterday a
scene of unusual gaiety, and greatly enlivened by the sales of
the valuable estates of Hillstone and Blackbrook; both pro-
perties have been held in great estimation for many a long
year. The latter estate was yesterday brought to the ham-
mer at the Royal Hotel, Ross, and we learn that, with all the
aid of so eminent an auctioneer as Mr. Robins, it was bought
in at the low sum of 8,900 guineas. To-day, at the Beaufort
Arms, in this town, Mr. Robins offered for sale the beautiful
estate called Hilston, the late residence of Mr. Coates, and
formerly the seat of much hospitality, when it was the abode
of General Sir Robert Brownrigt.T. The auction-room was
crowded, and many of the gentlemen present were of great
wealth. Perhaps some foreodings as to the indefinite ex-
pense of reconstructing the mansion, lately destroyed by fire,
had an effect ; but certainly never did property and talent
combined meet so cold a response. Mr. Robins, with his
known felicity of expression. set in glowing colours all the
solid attractions of the property : emphatically observing, that
the possessor of Hillston, by reinstating the mansion (of
which the walls are standing) and all the out offices, including
the best stabling in the county, at an outlay of 2,0001. or 3,0001.
and living in the good old Monmouthshire hospitality, could
walk over the course at the next Monmouth election. All,
however, was unavailing. The biddings commenced at 5,000
guineas, went on pretty briskly to 9,9 so—there made a halt._-.
and then got on to 11,000 guineas, at which bidding, after an
earnest appeal to the company, one of the most respectable
and numerous audiences that Monmouth ever witnessed, the
property was bought in at the last sum.

- -
ilfr. George Robins, who, it should seem, never purchases,
under any circumstances, any estate that is placed under his
direction at the hammer, has, since the auction this morning,
become the proprietor of Hillston, for eleven thousand guineas,
independently of the timber. General Brownrigg gave for it
22,0001., with the timber.

Mr. Robins indulged his audience with an exordium that
occupied full one hour; we hope the purchase will reward
him for his energetic appeal in favor of his respected client.
Our readers may remember the greater portion of the mansion
was destroyed by fire 18 months since—it is now known as the
" beautiful ruins of Hillston." It is in a park of considerable
beauty, with four farms, and a happy tenantry surrounding it.
_Monmouth Beacon, August 18.
Ross, HEREFORDSHIRE, AUGUST 16.--To-day the celebrated
George Robins paid us a visit. He had to sell the Black-
brook estate, within 10 miles of us, a house in the olden times
of considerable import, and amid the most beauteous of Mon-
mouth's favoured scenery ; but it has been unoccupied for fire
years, and delapidation has male its unwelcome appearance.
The grand ball-room of the Hotel was opened for the first
time, and very soon filled by all the elite of our county. Mr.
Robins indulged them by a very long and forcible appeal in
which lie treated the scenery of the River Wye in his best
stele, but to no effect, if we except the great applause he
elicited by his remarks. It was bought in at 8,300 guineas,
and, we believe, sold by him privately before be left our town,
by which the aucticn duty will be avoided.
Our ancient town has lately acquired a consequence
that, in olden times, could not be believed. In days of
yore the Swan was the great inn ; we have now an Hotel
erected by Barrett, the spirited host of the Royal Hotel,
that appears even to rival the Queen's Hotel, just opened at
Cheltenham. It is happily placed on the summit of the
brow, leaning over to*ards the declivity from Ross Church-
yard to the splendid valley below, where the river is winding
in serpentine form, and in view of the Hotel for more than a
mile. There is great taste visible in every department through-
out the Royal Hotel, and the proverbial civility of mine host
and hostess is quite sure to incline those who have made one
visit to repeat it. The impression is, that it will be the resort
of all the nobility who have taste for splendid scenery, and
do not dislike to pirtake of it at a moderate price.—Monmouth
paper, Aug. 17.

this week, crops the most bountiful and luxuriant may be ex-
peeted.—Ncwry Telegraph of Thursday.
We are happy to state, that the last three days give earnest
of an asundant harvest. The crops (with the exception of
wheat, which has suffered a little blight), never looked more
luxuriant than at present, and except on the very rank soils
t e;tr the sea coast, has escaped being lodged by the late rains.
Wexford Independent of Thursday.
We nre happy to state that a lot of new oatmeal of the rrim,
est qui I:ty was shipped on yesterday (Monday) by Mr. Henry
Crolly of this town, per the Town of Drbgheda steamer, and
consigned to dr. Thomas Tatters, corn merchant Liverpool,
thus proving that the harvest, which has now commenced under
the most favourable auspices. will not be so late as was gene-
rally expected.—Drogheda Journal.
Monday the weather was very
propitious for the crops ; we
hi:d no rain, which has been a rarity for some weeks ; we
hope dry weather may continue. Wheat has advanced in
several of the English markets fully 7s. per qUarter in the
course of the last week. The ports become open for impor-
tation when wheat reaches 735. per quarcer.—Belfast News
Letter.