The Sun.
London, England, 1825-01-27 00:00:00

[MORNING HERALD.]

The French Papers of late have been endea-
vouring to thrown odium upon England and its
Ministers, for having acknowledged the inde-
pendence of the South American States. Here,
however, we beg leave to observe, that it is by
no means certain that his Majesty's Ministers
have actually entered into any agreement with
those States to the effect stated. However,
we will suppose that they have; and that Eng-
land has at length acknowledged the Spanish
Indies to be independent. The French Papers
say, that, in adopting this course, we have
set at defiance the Holy Alliance, and that
probably the latter will, at some future pe-
riod, acknowledge India and other of our
Colonies to be independent of us. Well, be it
so ; but if we have possession of our Colonies, it
matters not whether the Holy Alliance should
issue a proclamation to the effect that India and
our other Colonies were independent ; for we, on
the same principle, might issue a manifesto,
stating that the Russian possessions in North
America were independent of Russia, and that
the possessions of tie French in the East and
West Indies were independent of France. It is
folly for the French Papers to talk of the risk we
run of Russia proclaiming the independence of
any of our Colonies, till the time should arrive
that our Colonies were actually as free from our
yoke as the Spanish Indies are from the Spanish
yoke. In a commercial respect we appear
to be placed in much the following situa-
tion with regard to South America. We
have it in our power to say to the South Ameri-
cans, you have hides, cotton, and other things,
which you wish to dispose of—send them to
London or Liverpool, our merchants can pur-
chase such articles from you either by the ship
load, or even before the ship arrives in port, or in
any manner you please ; and in return our mer-
chants will pay you in British produce of
some sort. Gold and silver we have none—
your's is the gold and silver country, there-
fore our merchants can give you nothing for
your goods, but British goods. Now, if it
he the interest of the South Americans to
bring their goods to our markets, they will
do so, and even their own Government could
not prevent them. Without acknowledging the
independence of South America, and ire the ab-
sence of Ambassadors or Consuls, our trade with
South America has increased every year for many
years past. The reason is obvious—South America
produces hides, and other things which we want,
arid can take and pay for beyond airy other
nation, therefore the South Americans send
them. They do trot send them because they
' have any par:icular affection for us as English-
mee, over any other people in the world,
for they would send their produce to Spain,
Portugal, or France, or any other country,
provided they were better markets than
England. And they would do so if the prices
for their articles were higher by 2i- per cent.
than they are here. Two and a half per cent.
makes all the difference between a South Ameri-
can's affection for an Englishman beyond his
affection for a Spaniard, a Frenchman, an Aus-
trian, or a Turk ; therefore it is folly to talk
of their generous feeling towards us, and a
greater folly to talk of what we might expect
from their gratitude, for acknowledging them
to be independent ; for the moment that should
be done, and they could get French goods
two and a half per cent. lower than ours, and
obtain in the ports of France two and a half
per cent. more for their produce than they
could obtain in England, France would have
their produce to the exclusion of England, and
they would import French goods to the exclusion
of English goods. Now the Chinese seem to
have known this simple position, in regard ref
trade, as far back as we have any records of
China, but we are only just beginning to find it
out. The Chinese say to all natious, if yon want
our teas, come for them ; only bring us your tin,
or something else, in return for our teas. If you
do not like our teas, keep away from us. Adam
Smith was one of the first to adopt the French
merchant's speech, as an axiom in regard of com-
merce, " Let us alone—do nothing." But Smith
so mystified the subject, that a man of com-
mon capacity can hardly know what to
make of Smith's reveries. At last the reader
is obliged to say to himself—well, after all, I
can only come to the conclusion that Adam
Smith merely meant to gay to the people of
Great Britain what the Frenchman said to his
Government—" Do nothing; let us alone." 1l r.
Ricardo cut the matter very short, by saying,
CC It is of 110 consequence mystifying us mer-
chants with dissertations on imports, or ex-
ports, or balances of trade, for if you import
a 1001. worth of Spanish wool, you must ex-
port a 1001. worth of tin or some other Bri-
tish product, for luckily we have no gold and!
silver to export. Therefore, it comes to this,
that a Spaniard labours to send you his article,
in return for an article produced by an English-
man's labour ; tire one tends flocks of sheep in
the wholesome open air, to send his wool to
England ; the other shuts himself up in an un-
wholesome hot factory, among all sorts of
noisome smells, in order to send, in return, his
woollen cloths to Spain. It is labour for la-
bour," said Mr. Ricardo, " look at it in any
point of view you will." Now if, with regard to
commercial intercourse, the position of China,
that of Mr. Ricardo, and the French Ministers,
be good, we cannot see why our Ministers should
give themselves ninny trouble as to the acknow-
ledgment of the independence of the South
Americans, or why the latter should care whe-
Jher we acknowledge them or nut ; for it ap-

pears by all accounts, that their markets are al-
ready sufficiently glutted with British manufac-
tures, and our markets are overloaded with their
produce. What more would each side want, so
far as an interchange of commodities was con-
cerned ?

[MORNING POST.]
As we expected, a Rule for a New Trial in
the case Duncan v. Trend has been applied for
and granted. It could not be otherwise ; for, as
the Attorney-General observed, the Jury which
found for the Defendant seemed to consider them-
selves a Court of Error, assembled not for the
purpose of trying the particular action re-
ferred to them, but of deciding upon the De-
cision of the Court of King's Bench on the gene-
ral question of Police Reporting. Owing to this
mistaken view of their duty, they returned a
verdict in opposition to the direction of the Lord
Chief Justice, founded on the law of the case, as
made out in evidence. And yet for conduct so
erroneous, and therefore so subversive of the fair
administration of Justice, the Jurors have been
half canonized by the traffickers in Police Scan-
dal ! Had those gentlemen been guided implicitly
by the opinion of the Bench as to the legal na-
ture of the publications complained of (which the
Lord Chief Justice again declared on Tuesday,
" there could be no doubt were libellous,") and
awarded the small damages, which from the other
circumstances elicited during the trial the Judge
himself thought out to suffice,they would in reality
have best promoted their own object. A good
deal of litigation, and many other unpleasant
conquences would have been thus avoided. That
a new a new trial will be granted, after cause
has been shown, cannot now be doubted ; and
as little can it be doubted thas another Jury will
find for the Plaintiff, seeing the error of the for-
mer one, as well as the certainly that a second
verdict for the Defendant (unless new evidence
to alter the bearing of the case should be ad-
duced) must lend to further repetition of all
past proceedings. In urging these sentiments,
we are anxious for nothing but to uphold the
authority of the law, and the character of our
Courts of Justice. No friend to his country—no
Englishman, who knows and values the inesti-
mable blessings enjoyed by Britons from our
present judicial institutions, can have a different
feeling. It is a species of parricide to encourage
Juries to beat dow►► the constitutional rights of
Judges, and thus set two parts of a system
intended to move in concert, in direct contra-
diction, each to the other. The merits or
demerits of Police Reporting generally, are in
truth not at issue—they have merely been super-
induced upon a particular question, which ought
to be decided without reference to them—but
which, unfortunately, has, through mistake, been
decided solely with a view to them. The Jury
that tried 44 Duncan v. Trend " did not as-
suredly intend to declare that Police Reports
were privileged beyond all other articles
published in Newspapers. Yet such is the
meaning of a verdict returned in contradiction
to established law, and taken by the mere
Party Press to be a revisal of the solemn judg-
ment of the Court of King's Bench on a gene-
ral legal principle. May we ask, would the
same result have been recorded had the libel in
question been in the form of a letter from a corre-
spondent, and its legal construction as clearly laid
down by the Bench as on the lute occasion ? No
one imagines so. The Jury appeared to have
been impressed with the belief that a verdict for
the plaintiff would destroy Police Reporting in
loco, and with it all the wondrous benefits it is
asserted to confer on society. Such was the hy-
pothetical evil they undertook to avert, and
which, even if a real evil, they presumed too
much in attempting to redress by a side-wind,
while performing a distinct duty. The expe-
diency of allowing the sort of publicity which is
ordinarily given to Police proceedings, by fancy
Reports of those preliminary examinations, we
shall again revert to at no distant day.

ACCIDENT AT THE CUSTOM-HOUSE.

'FURTHER PARTICULARS.]
Yesterday morning, at about half-past nine
o'clock, a portion of the floor at the east end of
the Long Room, at the Custom-house, gave way,
and was precipitated with a dreadful crash into
the King's warehouses which lie immediately
under it. It has since been discovered, that the
arches of brick-work which supported the floor,
not being sufficiently strong to bear the immense
weight placed on them, and being further
weakened, as is supposed, by the loosening
of the earth beneath by the late unusually high
tides, had fallen in. The portion of the
floor which has given way, as nearly as can
be judged by the eye, is about 40 feet in breadth
from side to side of the room, and about 20 feet
of tke length. The entire breadth of the room is
near GO feet, and the length 200 feet. The
desks at each side of the room are left standing,
the middle part of the floor alone being sunk.--
Most providentially no accident whatever has oc-
curred on this occasion. It took place at about
half an hour before the commencement of public
business ; only one individual (it is said one
of the clerks of the warrants) was stand-
ing on that part of the floor which has
fallen in, and he, finding it gave way be-
neath his feet, saved himself by springing up
into one of the window-seats, which he had
only just sufficient time to accomplish. Some
workmen were also employed in the warehouses
below, but they all saved themselves on the first
alarm, though with great difficulty. As soon
as the accident was known, orders were issued
to close up the doors of the Long Room, and to
forbid any persons to enter it, it being then un-
certain how far the security of the whole fabric
was endangered. The officers and clerks of the
establishment began to arrive shortly after,
but it was of course impossible to transact any
public business amidst the general confusion, had
those gentlemen been permitted (which was not
the case) access to their books and papers. Mr.
Laing, the surveyor, was sent for by the Com-
missioners ; and until his opinion could be obtain-
ed, workmen were employed to prepare as many
us possible of the small rooms adjoining the Long

Room, for th►' accommodation of the principal
clerks. We understand, however, that the
result of Mr. Laing's survey was, that that
portion of the room which had not fallen was
perfectly secure, and that the interruption to
public business need not exist lon,er than till
the following day (this morning) when the Long
Room he thought might be opened as usual. The
inconvenience to merchants, who had clearances
to make, of this unexpected interruption to busi-
ness, has been of course very great, and the acci-
dent, when announced .to many of them, appeared
so extraordinary, that they were with much dif-
ficulty induced to credit it. When the intelli-
gence was first circulated in the city, it was re-
ported that the whole had fallen in, and the
greatest alarm was consequently excited until the
truth was ascertained. The following notice on
the part of the Commissioners was put up at the
Custom-house about an hour after the accident :

" At the Board, Jan. 26.
" In consequence of part of the floor at the east end of the
Long Room having given way this morning, the Board direct
the Bench-officers to make such arrangements for conducting
the business as, under the circumstances, they may deem expe-
dient, relying upon their zeal and intelligence for taking such
measures as shall occasion no farther stoppage of the business
than may he indispensably necessary ; and, until farther orders,
the Board direct the Long Room to be cleared, and the doors to
be closed, giving access only to such officers and clerks as
may be desirous of removing their books and papers."—( Tht
Times. )