The Sun.
London, England, 1825-01-12 00:00:00

[BRITISII PRESS.]

The fever of speculation which raged on Mon-
day in the American mining shares, has, we are
glad to find, begun to subside, and, with the re-
turning sobriety of the public mind, there has
been a coresponding decline in the nominal va-
lue of these attractive adventures. There was
an average fall of at least 25 per cent. yester-
day on all the shares that were in the market. No
business was done in the Real del Monte project ;
the shdreholders who had asked 1,5001. on Mon-
day being, we- believe, yesterday afraid of of-
fering to sell at all, on account of the ludicrous
contrast the prices they would realise would
make with the lofty demands of the preceding
day : according to the old adage, however, it
is very probable that they may go further and
fare worse. It is not likely now that the delu-
sion is long its power—that prices even so good
as those of yesterday will again be attainable.,
The decline, w4s expect, will yet be greater.
These are tot_ the times when bubbles like the
South Sea scheme can be blown, and thousands
of ignorant persons duped out of their property
by the artifices of daring speculators. The prPss
is now ready to canvass and expose every attempt
to work upon public credulity, and the success of
imposture must necessarily be very limited both in
extent and duration. It gives us pleasure to know
that w e have contributed to allay the insane ardour
that was prevailing in respect of these Mining,
Companies.. The check they sustained yester-
day may be justly regarded as one of the bene-
ficial effects of the vigilant and enlightened con-
trout exercised by the daily Press over the public
welfare. General principles are too commonly
neglected in the consideration of particular mea-
sures, or the purchasers of these shares would,
if they had known any thing of the subject of
their speculations, have been aware that the
larger their profits, the sooner they would be at
an end. The deereciation of value that results
from the increase of the precious metals, is fatal, in
the nature of things, to those dreams of boundless
wealth in which all mining speculators have in-
dulged. Montesquieu, in treating of the causes

of the decay of Spain, which he ascribes to these
very American mines, observes, " As the specie
of Europe soon doubled, the profit of Spain di-
minished in the same proportion, and the Spa-
niards had every year but the same quantity of a
metal which was become by one half less precious.
In double the time, the specie still doubled, and
`the profit still diminished another half, and even
more." He adds afterwards, " but if mines should
be discovered so fruitful as to give a much greater
profit, the more fruitful they will be the sooner the
profit will cease." But perhaps, after all, as facts
speak more eloquently than words, we think it
not amiss just now to look back to what passed in
this city a little more than a century ago, when
the mania for schemes raged in its utmost ful-
ness, unlimited by any of the circumstances to
which we have before alluded. The strength of
the delusion respecting the great bubble of that
day is thus described in 44 A pplebee's Journal"
of August 5, 1720:—" Our South Sea equi-
pages increase every day : the city Ladies
buy South Sea jewels ; hire South Sea maids ;
and take new country South Sea houses ;
the Gentlemen set up South Sea coaches, and
buy South Sea estates, that they neither exa-
mine the situation, the nature or quality of the
soil, or price of the purchase, only the annual
rent and the title; for the rest, they take all by
the lump, and give forty to fifty years' purchase.
This has brought so many estates to market, that
the number of land-jobbers begin to increase
to a great degr.ee, almost equal to the stock-
jobbers we had before."—Parliament had pre-
viously interfered to crush the petty frauds, which
had multiplied to an amazing amount. According
to a calculation in a number of the London
Weekly Packet for January, 1720, it appears
that the stocks proposed to be raised by these
schemes exceeded 8,000,000/., " above twice
as much," adds the journalist, " as the current
coin of the nation, nay, more than the third part
of all the payments the circulation of that cur-
rent coin performs in the whole kingdom." In
the same paper there is a list of ninety of these
schemes.

[sticsv TIMES.]
It is quite unnecessary for us to re-assert that
attachment to Constitutional Liberty, the decla-
ration of which was one of our earliest
claims to public confidence. Still less can it
be requisite that we should remind our readers
of the manner in which we have heretofore
applied the principles of Liberty and of the
Constitution to our view of the Catholic Ques-
tion ; but that view will be considerably al-
tered if a large majority of our Catholic fel-
low-subjects set themselves in array against the
Constitution, and if the wiser and better part of
the Catholic Body be irresistibly carried along
with the torrent of factious violence. We look
upon the Catholic Association of Ireland to be in
spirit, if not in letter, illegal ; to be clearly un-
constitutional ; to be dangerous to the public
peace; and, above all, to he fatal to the just
and reasonable hopes of the Catholics themselves.
In Ireland the influence of the Catholic Aristo-
cracy is wholly annihilated. Most truly is it
observed by a respectable Cotemporary, 44 that
the expression recorded of Mr. O'Connell by the
official paper of the Association, The Dublin
Evening Post, is a very remarkable one." That
expression was, that " the Catholic Aristocracy
sent in their adhesion." In our view of this
phrase, nothing can be more insulting to the men
of birth and station among the Catholics. It
holds them out as a weak and intimidated
body, who would fain keep away from the
Association if they dared, and who have in-
deed kept away as long as they dared ; but who
are now compelled as it were to surrender at
discretion, to fall into the ranks of the Asso-
ciation soinewhere in the rear, and to march un-
known and undistinguished among the crowd
that follows the standard of the Dublin Bar-
risters. We lay it down as a Constitutional
,prifiCiple, a principle essentially conservative of
the peace and good of society, that in
all great public movements, whether of the
nation, of a party, or of a sect, the Aris-
tocratical portion of the Body should take
the lead. The only alternative is that
the mob can govern no otherwise than
through the agency of demagogues. Now it
does appear to us that the Catholic Association,
however ostensibly coloured, is nothing more than
the power of the mob in Ireland, guided and
directed by the favourites of the mob for the
time being. These individuals cannot retain the
favour they have acquired but by fresh extra-
vagances daily ; and every new extravagance
involves them deeper and deeper in inconsistency.

[MORNING HERALD.]
Our report from Hatton Garden Police Office,
in Monday's Paper, prescribed a striking in-
stance of the uncertainty of our criminal laws,
and of the opposite modes of administering jus-
tice on the very same spot, at nearly one and
the same moment. In one case a wretched
being, impelled by hunger to purloin a loaf, is
committed for trial ; while in the other, a young
man for stealing a twelfth-cake, was permit-
ted, on the intercession of the prosecutor, to
go at large ! We do not mean to pass any
judgment upon either of the Magistrates upon
these occasions (both of whom, we have no doubt,
acted from their sense of what was right), fur-
ther than to observe that the one seems to pre-'
sent an instance of that stoic apathy which may,
well become a stern dispenser of rigid justice—
the other, to possess those feelings and sympa-
thies towards the errors of our common nature,
which are derived from an intercourse with the
better part of mankind, as well as from a know-
ledge of the frailties which flesh is heir to.
The sterner Magistrate has the law on his side ;
the other, that which is above all law—human
nature. It is desirable, however, that there should
be something like uniformity in these matters, and
that criminal justice at least should not be a loll-
ing dependent on the education, the prejudice, or
the right or wrong feelings of Magistrates. For-
merly, we believe, it was held, that a Magistrate
had no power to release a person charged with fe-
lony, even tho' his innocence were apparent. That
idea, as well it might, has long since, however,

been exploded ; and it is quite notorious that
Magistrates now-a-days discharge many more
persons than they commit. At the same time, it
must be admitted that, strictly speaking, the pre-
rogative of mercy is not with the Magistrate, who
may therefore perhaps be justified in abstaining
from its exercise. But on the other hand, in the
dense population of the metropolis, and amongst
the numerous petty offenders who must every
day be detected, it is surely right that the rigour
of the law should be softened down, and that a
direction to do this should be lodged with
those whose character for discretion should
be one of their chief recommendations to
office. A power to overlook trifling offences, ju-
diciously exercised, would be of infinitely more
use both to the community and individuals, than
the present practices, both in London and else-
where, of crowding the prisons with petty of-
fenders, who nine times in ten, even under the
most improved system of prison discipline, pass
through them as schools in which they be-
come hardened and expert at crime. It is here
that the discrimination and right feeling of the
Magistrate is called for ; and, without meaning
to allude harshly to any one, it is to these quali-
ties that sufficient attention has not at all times
been paid to their selection.

(From the LONDON GAZETTE, Jan. 11.)

r-

Whitehall, Jan. 10, 1825.
The King has been pleased to present the Reverend John
Cameron to the Church and Parish of Stornaway, in the Pres.
bytery and Isle of Lewis and County of Ross, vacant by the
death of the Reverend Sir. Fraser. •

IVliitchall, Jan. 10, 1825.
The King has been pleased to appoint Alexander Cock•
burn, Esq. to the office of one of the Clerks of his 11Iajesty'S
Signet, in the room of Thomas Norton Powlett, Esquire,
ceased.

BANKRUPTS.
R. J. Greetham, Liverpool, ship-chandler, to surrender Jan,
24, 25, Feb. 22, at the George Inn, Liverpool. Solicitor, Mr.
Chester, Staple-inn.
R. Byram, J. Byram, and J. Byram, Saddleworth, York-
shire, woollen-manufacturers, Jan. 20, 21, Feb. 22, at the Star
Inn:Manchester. Solicitor, Mr. Lever, Gray's-inn-square.
J. Sugien, Huddersfield, cloth-merchant, Jan. 24, 25, Feb.
22, at the offices of Messrs. Whitehead and Robinson, Hud-
dersfield. Solicitors, Messrs. Clarke, Richards, and Metcalf,
Chancery-lane.
W. W. Williams, Norwich, pawnbroker, Feb. 1,2, 22, at
the Rampant Horse Inn, Norwich. Solicitor, Mr. Pulley,
Great Carter-lane, Doctors'-commons.
H. 3Plienzie, Walsall, Staffordshire, draper, Jan. 26, 27,
Feb. 22, at the Wool Pack Inn, Birmingham. Solicitor, Mr,
Wheeler, Lincoln's-in-fields.
J. Humphreys, Vauxhall-bridge-road, Westminster, car-
penter, Jan. 25, 29, Feb. 22, at the Bankrupts, Court, Basing-
hall-street. Solicitor, Mr. Shuter, .Millbank-street, West-
minster.

DIVIDENDS.
J. 18, J. R. Benson, Artillery-place, Finsbury-square, inev
chant—Feb. 2, T. Peirce and D. Williams, Merthyrtidvil,
Glamorganshire, banker—Feb. 7, J. Webber, Bath, currier-
Feb. 1, C. Tatner, Horton Kirby, Kent, farmer—Feb. 1, %V-
Beale and J. H. Wrathall, Union-street, Southwark, hat'
makers—Feb. 4, P. Marshall, Scarborough, Yorkshire, grocer
—Feb. 2, J. Hall, Stockport, Cheshire, grocer—Feb.
Gravener, Bristol, sugar-refiner—Feb. 3, J. Hndrick, Livtr
pool, watch-maker—Feb. 3, J. Shorthose, Hanley, Staffed'
shire, manufacturer of earthenware—Feb. 5, J. G. Barnard,
Skinner-street, Snowhill, printer.
CERTIFICATES, FEB. 1.
T. King, Frederick's-place, Kennington-lane, merchant.,"
C. Huffam, Garford-street, Limehouse-hole, ship-ehandler--'
G. Sidford, sen., Bath, linen-draper—E. Humphreys, Swag'
sea, Glamorganshire, victualler—ll. Stuart, Worcester, wine'
merchant—R. S. Thomas, Hanbury, Worcestershire, farmer
—H. Levy, Rathbone-place, glass-dealer—M. Solomon, Great
Prescott-street, Goodman's-fields, hardwareman.
PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED.
J. and G. Mickle, and G. Ilay, Monkwearmouth, Durham"
rope-makers—J. M'Lachlan, T. Phillips, W. Lawrie, Si,,'
Ferguson, and P. Falconer, Glasgow, tea-merchants---J. and
G. Gibson, Arbroath, tanners—M. T. Gibson, W. Bride/
and P. Canipbell, Friday-street, Cheapside, silk-manotac-
turers—J. B. Lunt and N. Waddington, Liverpool—N. Ida
and H. Harvey, King-street, Finsbury-square, silversmiths--'
E. Pease, jun., J. Weatherall, and I. Lloyd, Stockton, Da'
ham, grocers, and Great Ayton, Yorkshire, oil-manufacturers;
so far as regards I. Lloyd—T. Boyne and W. Chaplin, Grace'
church-street, coach-masters—J. Dunstan and T. (later, Gut*:
den-hill, Staffordshire, manufacturers of earthen-ware--,,0
Jones and J. Wise, Banbury, Oxfordshire, surgeons—v.'
Bessey and J. Pooley, Mincing-lane, brokers—G., C., and S'
Deritend, Warwickshire, ivory-turners—J. 310-;°
and R. Giblin, Kelvedon-Hatch, Essex, millers—A. and 1'
Molteni, Baldwin's-gardens, Gray's-inn-lane—N. J. Jordan
and W. Evans, Silver-street, Golden-square, carvers and gil"
ders—T. and J. Nutter, Kennett's-wharf, Upper Thames'
street, coal-merchants—C., M., and N. Kirwan ; so far a re'
gards C. Kirwan—R. Heath and R. Morris, Burslem, SW'
fordshire, wheelwrights—A. Fletcher and G. H. Seard,
brook, Hampshire, iron-founders—J. i%lair, W. and Ilr•
Thomas, and E. Negus, London—J. Habgood, jun., and T.
Parker, Macclesfield, Cheshire, silk-manufacturers.
•

COURSE OF EXCHANGE, January 11.
rnstet dam
Ditto, at Sight ll 19
Rotterdam
Antwerp
Haniburgh
Altona 37 0 24 Gs.
37 1 24 11 —s'
Paris,3 Day's sight
Ditto
Bontrleauxolitto
Berlin 7 5
Frank l'ortorr the Main . lsla Ex. Mond/
Petersburgh 9
Vienna lO 2
Trieste lO 2
Madrid • • .31; Effectit'S
Cadiz
Bilboa 3si Effective
Barcelona
Gibraltar
31
Leghorn
Gera,a 44a--Venice, Ital. Lir. 37
Malta
Palermo .
Lisbon
51
Oporto
RioJarreiro
Bahia . soi •
Dublin ...• 94 Curls 9 pet Cent.

BULLION.

Portugal Gold,iti Coin.
Foreilo Gold, in Bars
New Doubloons
New Dollars
Silver Standard in Bars

1.0 0 operOo'
3 17 9
.. . 3 /7 0
0 0 0
0 5 1;)

BIRTHS.

On the 11th inst., the lady of Andrew Spottiswoode, E 6 Cl 4
of Bedford-square, f a son.
_ _

On the lOtli inst., the lady of David Charles Guthrie, Bsq•'
of a son.
On the 11th inst., Mrs. Arthur Clarke, of 13iiihopsgate'
street-without, of a son.

MARRIED.
At St. George's church, Hanover-square, on the ath
Thomas Reenan, surgeon, of Kilrush, county Clare, IreWWl
w Margaret Kenny, daughter of Lawrence Kenny, Esq., °
Newmarket and Fergus, county Clare, Ireland.

I)IE1).
On the 9th inst., at his father's house, South Parade, Queen/
Elms, Chelsea, George, youngest son of Captain 'rancis Pet'
tingal, in the 24th year of his age.
• At Annsbrae, Shetland, on the 12th ult., John Meuat, FACO
of Garth, aged 73.
On Monday last, aged 61, Mrs. Sarah Robinson, wife of
Johh Robinson, Esq., of Park-street, Westminster.
On Monday, the 10th inst., at Twickenham, aged 68, 1146111"
wife of Thomas Dickason, Esq., of Fulwell-lodge, TwickeW.
ham, and of Montagu-street, Russell-square, London.

Printed and Published for the PROPRIETORS at the SUg7
°FINE, No. 112, Strand, by 3. B. CAR,SWIIIB.