The Sun.
London, England, 1822-01-09 00:00:00

F.ASIIIONABIJE PARTIES.

The Countess CowPEn.—This elegant and fashionable Lady
has issued cards of invitation for a Dress Party and Ball, at her
seat, Pansanger, Herts, on Friday next. Great preparations
are making to give effect to the delightful:scene.
Lord DUDLEY and WARD.—This venerable Nobleman,
whose benevolence is proverbial, is exercising his hospitable
disposition in relieving the necessitous poor in the neighbour-
hood of his seat, Hinley Hall, near Wolverhampton.
The Countess of Stamford entertained a select party yester-
day at her house in Charles-street, Berkeley-square.
Lord Holland entertained a select number of friends to din-
ner yesterday in Old Burlington-street.
The Duke of Argyle had a large party. to dine with him yes-
terday in Upper Brook-street.
The Earl and Countess of Blesinton gave an elegant En-
tertainmentand Juvenile Ball on Monday eveningin St. James's-
square.
The Marquess of Buckingham's Grand Ball, which has
been so long in preparation, will positively take place at the
Family Mansion, at Stowe, on Thursday next. The invita-
tions are very numerous, and a great number of the Nobility
are expected to attend ; the arrangements are on the most splen-
did scale.

Sir Benjamin and Lady Hobhouse and Misses, Hohhouse
gave an elegant Evening Entertainment and Fancy. Ball last
night, at their Villa, Richmond, Surrey. Preparations were
made to accommodate 150 persons, and every delicacy the sea-
son affords provided. _ _ _

Mrs. Coults had her first fashionable dinner party yesterday
for the season ; several distiguished persons were present.

WINDSOR, JAN. 7.—On Saturday evening her Royal High-
ness the Princess Augusta, attended by the Hon. Mrs. Eger.
ton, left her residence at Frogmore, and proceeded to Bagshot
Park, to spend the day with her Rgyal Sister, the Duchess of
Gloucester. In the evening the Princess returned to Frog_
more.

MARRIAGE IN HIGH LlFE.—Yesterday was married by
special licence, at St. George's, Hanover-square, H. Hammers.:
ley, Esq. banker,. Pall-mall, to Miss Montalieu, niece to Mrs.
Orby Hunter, of Bruton-street, Berkeley-square. After the
ceremony, the happy couple left town ink—chariot and four, for
the seat of C. Hammersley, Esq,
will
bridegroom's brother,
at Dulwich, Surrey, where they will remain for the honey-,
moon.

Earl Talbot arrived at his seat at Ingestrie, in Staffordshire,
on Wednesday. .-
A new Club-house is forming under the auspices of a Royal
Duke.

Thursday Francis Jeffrey, Esq.was inducted into the office of
Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow.

Yesterday afternoon the Duke of YORK held
a Levee at the Commander in Chief's Office, in
the Horse. Guards, which was numerously at-
tended. .

The town fills very fast with persons of distinc-

tion, who are coming to attend the Session of
Parliament. The arrivals of the Members of the

Lower House within these few 'days have been
very 'numerous.
Yesterday forenoon the Marquis of LONDON-
DERRY arrived in town from North Cray, and
alighted at the Foreign Office, in Downing-street,
where his Lordship was joined by the Earl of
LIVERPOOL, Eal4l BATHURST, and Lord SID-
MOUTH. In the course of the day his Highness
Prince ESTERHAZY had a long interview with his
Lordship, and likewise Count CARAMAN. At
ten minutes after four, his Lordship left his Of-
fice, and returned in his travelling carriage to
North Cray.

His Grace the Duke of MONTROSE has resum-
ed the office of Killer's Lieutenant of the counties
of Stirling and Dumbarton. Mr. MURRAY of

Polmaise, and Mr. BUCHANAN of Ardoch, have
also resumed the duties of Vice-Lieutenants of
their respective counties.--(Caledonian Mercurs.)
DREADFUL SurcrnE.—lt is our painful duty
this (lay to record the perpetration of a crime,

. .
which unhappily too often stains our pages, and
which, from the frequency of its commission, may
well be said to be " our Island's shame,, and
makes her the reproach of neighbouring states."
Mr, J. SLADE, who has for many years held the
high and responsible situation of Chief Clerk in
the Navy Pay Office at Chatham, having lately
become backward in making up his accounts,
and being in arrears to Government to a )urge
amount, an order was sent on Tuesday last to
Commissioner Sir Robert Barlow to inspect his
accounts. On -that Gentleman acquainting Mr.
Slade with his business, the latter opened his desk,
and pointing to several bags, said they contained
the sums due to Government. The bags it was
intimated held each 1000 sovereigns, and on Sir
Robert's proceeding to count their contents, Mr.
Slade left the room, and in a few minutes after-
wards the report of a pistol was heard. On inqui-
ry it was found to proceed from the stable, ad-
joining the house, whither Mr. Slade had gone,
and who was there found lying on some fresh lit-
tered straw, weltering in his blood and lifeless,
having shot himself through the heart. The cause
of this dreadful act was apparent, when it was
found that the greater part of the bags contained
only silver instead of gold, and it is said the de-
falcation amounts to between 8 and 9,0001. The
deceased was nearly 60 years of age, and has left
a family of seven sons and daughters, to deplore
the sad event. A Coroner's Inquest was taken
on view of the body on Thursday. Verdict—
Insanity.—(Maidstone Journal, Jan. 8.)

POR THE SUN.

MODERN POLITICAL. ECONOMY.
[LE'rTER. IV.]

Ma. EDITOR-In spite .of all 'I can do my sub,
ject carries me round about, in a sort of crazy
style, very natural to the occasion. Mr. Rtc.titno
says (p. 67.) that the high price of corn is not the
effect of rent. Which short sentence, though it
does not stand exactly so, has surely been over-
looked by his commentators. A. wise writer,
and one who means to be very original and con-
vincing, generally either takes care to reverse his
own positions somewhere in his work, or to write
so obscurely in s'me passages as not to be direct-
ly understood. Whereupon, I beg to tell yoUr

readers a short story :—There was a sort of vil-
lage soothsayer who lived in a straggling place,
and who obtained a wonderlul reputation for
foretelling the weather ; every morning early, he
walked to one end of the street, and, looking to
the cardinal points •Of the compass, pronounced
that it would be rain ; then going to the other
end of the town, he took the same view,
and said it would be fair weather, taking
care that somebody should hear him in both
cases. At one end or the other of the town,

our prognosticator- was always right ; but it
ever accused of being in error, he replied, " Go,
and inquire at the other end of the town."
If the high price of corn be not the effect of
rent, hoW should rent fall on the consumer ?-44 If

he high price of corn were the effect, and not

the cause of rent (says our Prince of Philoso-
phers) price would be proportionally influenced
as rents were high or low."—Yes, it would in-
deed ; nobody could ruin the farmers, although
the public uii4ht be starved. In this case the
populace could not too soon begin to burn
the landlords' halls, and knock down their

town houses, to bring them to a little moderation.
The beatitude of things on earth appears to po-

litical economists to consist in there being no ap-
propriation of any property but that which is
funded, although they have not considered wisely

how the taxes should then be raised. Let us
hear Mr. Ricardo on this subject—" On the
common principles of supply and demand, no-
rent:coUld be paid for such land, and in which,
of course, lands of the best 'quality are always.
first appropriated by the earliest settiers:—Flle
is speaking in his nonsensical way of a coun-
try first settled]—for the reason stated why
nothing is given for 'the use of air and water, or
for any other of the gifts of nature which exist
in boundless quantity." And much more to the
same purpose (p. 53.) but because this does not
go so near to the point as he cowl(' wish, he
quotes from M. Say as follows The earth,
as we have already seen; is not the only agent
of nature which has a productive power ; but it
is the only one, or nearly so, that one set
.of men
take to themselves, to the exclusion of others ;
and-of which they can consequently appropriate
the benefits.—[This is, truly, revolutionary doc-
trine.]—The waters of the rivers and of the sea,
by the,power which they have of giving move-
ment to our machines, carrying boats, nourishing
fish, have also a productive power ; the wind
which turns our mills, and even the heat of the
sun, both work for us ; but happily no one has yet

been able to say, ' the and the sun are
mine, and the service ‘fhich they render must be
paid for.' "—Mr. Ricardo mentions steam and• the
pressure of the atmosphere (having the misfor-
tune to come second into this sublime study) and
talks about the distiller and the dyer using \rater
without price, which, for the most part, is wholly
false. He then adds, If all land had the same
properties, if it were boundless in quantity, and
uniform in quality, no charge could be made for
its use." (p. 54.)—which is wholly false like-
wise, and foolish too ; unless he pleases to sup-
pose that, in such a case, mankind would go for
ever naked, and live on fruits and berries (and
so on)—in which case we should have had no
books on political economy.
In the foregoing sketch we have a fine sample
of what men will do rather than be idle ; some
persons with great wealth certainly spend their
time worse,and therefore we are willing to think
favourably of these labours. We learn above
that land ought to be as free as air; and so in-
deed it is, for though a man pays nothing to the
wind for driving his mill, yet he must own or

rossess some place before he can erect his

mill ; in any case he must spend money in
building it, and in keeping it in attendance
and repair, and could not afford to grind for no-
tling. It is true that every payment raises his
price, or the land being his own, he makes more
profit ; but still Nature supplies the wind gratis,
and the consumers have the benefit of it. 'Let
us go now to the, rivers :—As they run through
land, they belong to the Landowner, and the
mill-seats must be hired or purchased. The sea
cannot be fished without craft and tackle ; steam
cannot be appropriated without ex pensive prepara-
tion ; the distiller and the dyer pay for their
water, if they live in town ; if in the country,
they• hire the situations. Thus every thing con-
ceivable is appropriated in consequence of civ►li-
zation, and it is the employment only of empty
heads, or foolish ones, to consider how it might be
otherwise. It is to no purpose to say how man-
kind might be happier, or how they would have
lived j land were boundless and all alike; it has
pleased COD to make it as it is, and us to inhabit
it ; and I verily believe that, in our imperfect
state, there is as much good attainable as human
nature will admit, provided that we are not in-
fected
with the poison of. Political Economy, or
more properly speaking Politic or impolitic
knavery. The Rights of Man, and the Age of
Reason, and the Perfectibility of Human Nature,
have had their turn, and have grown stale and
ridiculous ; so now we have picked up a new
farce to amuse the studious, and impose on the
ignorant.—l remain, Sir,

*Tour's', &C. •
APERT

THE ARMY.

-~•,~-.

It ig reported that 10,000 troops are to be sent
out immediately to India; and that ships are al-
ready: engaged for that purpose..
. The-payment of :three months half-pay to. the
reduced Offiteri of his Majesty's. land forces, to
2,lth December lasts will commence on Thursday
the•l7th.instant. ~: • - : •

It having been found that the sword now used
by Officers of Infantry is of little or no use, it is
intended to adOpt the Light. Infantry *sabre
throughout the service; .
An order has been issued from the Horse
Guards for the adoption of the keyed bugle in all
regiments of Infantry, instead of the common
bugle, now in uses

The 10th Veteran Battalion is now assembling
at Templemore, under the command of Colonel
HOOPER. They will consist of. 1000 men. On
Wednesday last, 250 picked Veterans marbhed
from Cork Barracks: for that place.—(Dublin
Patriot.)