The Sun.
London, England, 1822-04-03 00:00:00

FRENCH FUNDS.

March 28, Five per Cents. Opened at 9O f. 10 c.
Closed at 89 f. 40 c and not 88 f. 85 c.
March 29, Five per Cents. Opened at B9 f. 5 c. •
Closed at B9 f. 30 c.
March 30, Five per Cents. Opened at
Closed at B9 f. 15 c.

( From the Philadelphia Papers to the sth March.)

A letter from Washington states, that " it is probable that
no tariff' will be finally acted upon during the present Ses-
sion. The Committee of Ways and Means will present it
towards the close of the Session, and it will remain till the
next year, in order to invite examination and inquiry.
" In relation to West India restrictions, the plan is none of
the best, but there will be no change of it during the present
Session. Should there be a necessity for a change next year,
it will be done, with a view to make our restrictions less heavy
on ourselves, and probably, more coercive on Great Britain
but not with any disposition to yield in the contest."
From the province of Texas our latest acounts are, that Gene-
ral Long, who fell by a mistake into the hands of the Repub-
licans, supposing that he was assaulting a Royalist party, has
been not only released with his fifty men, but taken into the
Patriot service, with pay, rank, and emoluments. So that
.he was not in the Patriot service before, having got there
by being taken prisoner by them. The privates are to re-
ceive a dollar a day each in their new employ. They
are lucky men, indeed, to escape at the same time from cap-
tivity and starvation. The reader cannot but remark when
their numbers are fairly told, what exaggerated accounts have
been given of the formidable force of the army of General Loiig,
at no time more respectable, in number at least, than FalstafF's

famous company.'
The persons who are interested in speculations in Texas, and
in schemes of self-aggrandizement, are publishing wonderful ac-
counts of the fertility of the land, and the hospitality of the Spa-
niards ; and some of the credulous people on the Mississippi,
who are now living on the most fertile land, and in the most hos-
pitable country on,the globe, seem to be disposed to better their
condition by emigrating to Texas. They are very well where
they are ; they would be better—and we shall see what becomes
of them. For our parts, we frankly confess our belief that we
have quite enough of territory beyond the Mississipi, and that
we have no longing for the New El Dorado, which lies beyond
the Rio Brassos and the Colarado. It will be quite time enough
a century hence to prepare for a second range of States west of
the" Mississippi.

We insert in our front page the Report of the
Agricultural Committee, with a feeling of sincere
regret that it presents no effectual and permanent
plan of relief for the existing agricultural dis-
tress. The Committee, indeed, do not appear
to have thought of probing the evil to the bot-
tom ; but seem to have almost confined their in-
quiries to measures 46 for affording some tem-
porary relief to the distresses." The measure
which they do recommend, namely, that for the
Purpose of relieving the glut upon the grain market,
the Government, whenever the average price of
wheat shall be under 60s. should grant advances of
money upon such corn of the growth of the
United Kingdom, as should be deposited in fit
and proper warehouses upon the river Thames,
and in certain ports to be specified, to an extent
not exceeding two-thirds of the market value or
such corn. The Committee recommend that the
sum of one million should be thus applied ; that
the deposits of corn should be for a period not
exceeding twelve months, and that the advances
should bear interest at the rate of 3 per cent.
per annum. The corn to be withdrawn at the
will of the depositor 66 upon payment of the
interest, warehouse rent, and other charges; "
and upon repayment, we presume, of the prin-
scipal of the loan, though the Committee have

omitted to mention that important part of the
transaction. The Committee have themselves
justly characterized this scheme, when they say,
" although no very great effect can be contem-
plated from adopting it, its operation, as far as
it may extend, can hardly fail to afford some
temporary relief." But, supposing the plan to be'
calculated to afford some temporary relief, the
question immediately presents itself, how far,
and to 'what amount, will that temporary re-
lief extend ? The farmer, be it remarked, is to
pay " three per cent. interest, warehouse rent,
and other charges." Besides these " other
charges," there will be the necessary charge of
conveying his corn to ,and from the ports or places
in which the warehouses are to be established.—
These various expences, 'added to the three per
cent. interest, cannot, we imagine, amount to
less than five 'per ceiit on the loan, in the
whole. And this is a loan, be it observed,
which does not leave the farmer's own ca-'
pital at liberty. His own capital, in his corn,
is to be •locked up in the Government ware-
houses, during the whole of the time that he is
using the capital advanced to him at a charge
of five per cent., or more ! And, for every
two hundred pounds thus lent to him at a
charge of '5 per cent., he must deposit three
hundred pounds, in corn, that being the propor-
tion of value on which the advances are to be
made. If he is by these terms, then, induced to
hold back his corn from the market longer than
he otherwise would have done (and unless he is
so induced to hold back, the plan will be alto-
gether an abortion), he will in fact pay 71 per
cent. for the use of the money with which
he may be accommodated. —Now, taking
the average price of wheat so high as 505.,
we shall find that 71 per cent. is equal
to a rise of 'three shillings and ninepence upon
every quarter of wheat pledged. The average price
in last Saturday's Gazette was only 465.3 d. which,
supposing an advance new to be made to the
farmers on the terms proposed by the Report,
would make the cost of the loan equal to a rise
of about three shillings and sixpence per quarter
of wheat ! It is true, that if the effect of the
measure should be to raise the price four shil-
lings per quarter, the farmer will be a gainer of
sixpence per quarter at the year's end, after
having paid " the interest, warehouse rent, and
other charges." But this is precisely the question,
whether the effect will be to raise the price
four shillings per quarter, or whether, indeed,
the operation of the plan will have the effect of
raising the price at all. Supposing that it should
have some effect,—tlia t it does raise the peke
two shillings a quarter ; and what will be the re-
sult ? Why, that the farmer, so far from being
benefited, will be a loser of one shilling and six-
pence on every quarter of wheat deposited by
him in the Government warehouses. We do
not believe that the plan will or can have the
effect of materially'elevating pried. The corn
is not to •be finally withdrawn from the
market. It is to continue " hanging over
the market in a formidable mass, ready
to be poured in at once, creating no small degree
of panic as to its future operation !" The ne-
cessities of the farmers are allowed to be
very urgent. The liberation of two-thirds of
1,500.0001. cannot enable them to go on long, when
it is alleged that they can with the utmost diffi-
culty stand their ground with the whole of their,
capital unrestrained. On the first appearance of
a rise in the markets, therefore, they would
eagerly bring,forward their supplies; and, their
necessities would loon compel them to bring them'
forward, even if no appearances of improvement
should occur.

Upon the whole, we think that the present
Report of the Committee, with regard to the
existing distress, is an abortion. The absolute
purchase of five hundred thousand quarters of
wheat, by the Government, could not fail
to do some good. The farmers would be relieved
from the payment of interest, and other charges.
The markets, on the other hand, would imme-
diately look up, •on so extensive a buyer ap-
pearing in diem. As there is no danger of
Government being forced, by necessity, to sell,
till prices have permanently risen, all the mer-
cantile advantages of diminished supply would be
gained, without any of the national risk attendant
upon diminishedproduction. The Report alludes to
the objection of making the Public, through the
Executive Government, " a dealer and specula-
tor in corn." It is at least equally objection-
able, surely, to convert 'the Public into a Pawn-
broker, which is the effect of the Measure re-
commended.

Those parts of the Report which relate to pro-
tection from foreign competition are less objec-
tionable than that which we have examined.
But the present difficulty is to raise the agricul-
tural interest from a state of severe depres-

sion to one of prosperity—not how they
are to be preserved in prosperous circumstances
after they shall again have attained them. We
are sorry to say, that, however desirable, and
indeed necessary, it is, that the Landed Interest
of the country should be supported, the plan
proposed is not calculated to effect that purpose.
It is remarkable that the Committee, in
their Report, do not say one word respecting
Rents, Taxes, Tithes, or Poor-Rates.

IRELAND. - Notwithstanding the examples
which have been made, and the activity of the
civil and military Authorities in enforcing the
Insurrection Act, we are concerned to find that
various parts of the county continue in a very
disturbed state, and that scarcely a night passes
without the commission of alarming outrages ;
some arms, however, have been given up.—(Cork
Advertiser, March 30.)

TILE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY.--A Ger-
man paper states that this company, the privileges of which have
'been recently confirmed 'by the Emperor ALEXANDER, is
in a most flourishing state. It was established by the Em-
peror Paul in 1797, and has extensive factories in Irkutck,
Yakutsk, Ochotsk, and Moscow besides agencies in Kasan,
Tomsk, and Kamtschatka. The company has also formed
establishments on the north-west coast of America, on the
Baranow Islands, at Kudjakun, and in the new Russian
colony of Koss, in Romanzoff's Bay. Before the existence of
the company, there were only some „private trading houses on
the Aleutian and Kurile Islands, amounting altogether to
forty-four. In the course of fifty-four years, from 1743 to
1797, these houses exported peltry to the amount of only
6,344,000 rubles. On the contrary, the company, from its
establishment in 1797 to 1818; only twenty-one years, exported
from the same islands, peltry to the amount of more than
15,000,000, and have paid, the station of Kiachta on the Chi-
nese frontier alone. The company was founded by shares,
8,000 of which were inscribed at 500 rubles each, but they
are now worth more than 600 rubles. An excellent port,
called New Archangel, has lately been formed by the
company, on the north-west coast of America, and more
than 10,000 savages of the Polar regions have been converted
to Christianity. The company has allotted 57,000 rubles to the
building of an hospital on the Island of Sitka.

Yesterday, at half-past two o'clock, a Cabinet
Council was held at the Foreign Office, which
was attended by the Earl of ITarrowby, the Earl
of Liverpool, the Earl of Westmorland, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Marquis of
Londonderry, Mr. Peel, Earl Bathurst, Mr. Ro-
binson, the Duke of Wellington, &c. The Ca-
binet sat in deliberation till.near five o'clock.

Yesterday the Duke of YORK held a Levee,
as Commander-in-Chief, at his office in the Horse
.Guards, which was but thinly attended.
According to advices from Martinique and
Guadaloupe, it appears that a petition has been
sent from both of these islands to the French
Government, requesting that some relief might
be afforded to the trade of each, by opening, the
ports to vessels from the United States.
Yesterday his Excellency Baron Werther, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of his Majesty the King
of Prussia to his Britannic Majesty, jointly with Mr. N. M.
Rothschild, accompanied by Mr. Bonnet, Notary Public, can-
celled and deposited in the Bank of England the amount of fifty
thousand pounds, hi special Bonds,. of the Prussian Loan nego-
ciated by Mr. N. M. Rothschild, in London, being the first
half of the sum fixed for the redemption of Bonds in the fourth
year, and also the saving of the interest_ on the 409,2001. re-
deemed from the Ist of April, 1819, to Ist Oct. 1821, inclusive.
The statement in some of the Papers relative to Lord
STRANGFORD'S interview with the,REis EVFENDI is wholly
incorrect. It is not true than his Lordship's reprcgentations
were received with coldness, or that the hopes of an amicable
adjustment have become fainter. On the contrary, we under-
stand that his Lordship, whose conduct, during the whole ne-
gociation, , cannot be too highly praised, has succeeded in re-
moving many of the principal difficulties, and that there are
now confident hopes of a speedy and favourable issue to the
negociation.—(Morning Paper.)
ciolonel GITSTAVASON, the late King of SWEDEN, has com-
menced an action for libel against the Editor and Publisher of
the Zeitgenossen, a periodical work containing the biography
of distinguished persons of the present age. Brockhaus, of
lieipsic, is the publisher.
There will be a change in the Direction of the Bank during
the present month, and it was yesterday reported in the City
that there will also be a change, of measures, and that the In-
terest will be reduced from Five to Four per. Cent.
We learn from Manchester that business is at present very
brisk there. A great deal of new machinery has lately been set
in motion. The manufactures of Glasgow also continue in a
flourishing state.,--(Carlisle Patriot.)
The Brewers in Canterbury, also at Sandwich, Ramsgate,
and Margate, having yesterday reduced the price of Beer to the
Publicans, strong Beer is now sold at firse places at fivepence
per pot.
Mr. DRAKE, Midshipman of the Severn, has been recently
presented with a rich gold medal, by the King of the Nether-
lands, for his humane and successful exertions,' in saving from
a watery grave a Dutch sailor, one of the crew of a vessel lately
wrecked on the Sussex coast, off Winchelsea.

The Planet Vows, which, a few weeks since, was an admired
crescent to the eastward of the Sun, in the evening, is now a
beautiful crescent to the westward of him, in the morning, and
may be seen by the naked eye fiom five till sun rise. The
spots on the' Sun are at this time very interesting, there being
one which is perceptible to the naked eye ; it is about three
times the size of our earth.

PANATHENE, OR TEMPLE OF THE A RTS.—There
was a private , view yesterday of an admirable
piece of mechanism under this title at Spring
Gardens. It consists of an elegant structure,
displayin,g the five orders of Architecture; Paint-
ings by STOTHARD and llowAttn, in their best
manner ; beautiful Sculpture of Italian work-
manship, after the antique; some fine Pictures
on velvet, by TOWN ; excellent carvings of four
Lions as large as life ; a self-acting Organ ; and
other attractive properties, which are highly cre-
ditaible to the Inventor and Proprietor, and
which received the warm approbation of a nu-
merous audience.

The new piece forthcoming at Drury-lane
Theatre, under the name of 4thnoran and Barnet,
is founded on the moral and interesting Romance
with the same title, written, by the late Dr.
HAWKSWORTIr, whose periodical work, The Ad-
venturer, is the best of the kind that has appeared
since The Rambler of Dr. JounsoN, who en-
riched The Adventurer with many valuable con-
tributions.

Mr. WEST, the husband of Mrs. WEST, the in-
teresting Actress of Drury-Lane Theatre, is to
be among the dramatic corps at the Haymarket
next season. He possesses some provincial re-
pute, and is said to be worthy of the London
station.

Secretary CRAGGS brought DICK ESTCOURT
once to Sir GODFREY KNELLER'S, when he mi-
micked several persons whom he knew, as Lords
GODOLPHIN, SOMERS, HALIFAX, &C. Sir GOD-
FREY was highly delighted, took the joke, and
laughed heartily, when they gave him the wink,
and he mimicked Sir GODFREY himself, who
cried, " Nay, now you are out, man; by G—,
that is not me,"